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Molson Coors to market C2 lager in single-alcohol unit bottle
LONDON - Molson Coors is drawing up plans to launch its low-alcohol lager brand C2 in a bottle size that would contain a single unit of alcohol.
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The product would help drivers to keep track of the number of units they have consumed. It would also help to enhance Molson Coors' record on encouraging responsible drinking.
Government advice on legal drinking limits states that men should consume no more than four units of alcohol and women no more than three before driving.
Most bottled lagers contain between one and two units, which makes it difficult for drinkers to monitor their consumption accurately.
Drinks advertising rules prevent brands from describing products as 'low-alcohol'; a unit-sized drink would therefore provide a way around this for marketing the C2 brand.
Simon Davies, the outgoing Molson Coors' marketing director, refused to comment on the single-unit format, but confirmed that the company had an active NPD programme in relation to responsible drinking.
At the start of the year, Molson Coors launched its Carling lager in 99-calorie bottles to draw women to the brand. The roll-out was backed by ads in specialist women's media.
Comments
Rachel Seabrook - 14/07/2009
No alcoholic drink should be aimed at drivers. To do so would be deeply irresponsible. I hope this is an error and Molson Coors are not actually going to market this drink in this way. There are a few more errors in this article: Advertising rules allow products to be marketed as 'low-alcohol' if that's what they are. Since low-alcohol is defined at up to 1.2%, this product isn't included. However, the rules also say, "Drinks may be presented as preferable because of low or lower strength." This does apply here, and is evident on the product's own website. By far the worst error in this article, though, is the statement that "Government advice states that men should consume no more than four units of alcohol and women no more than three before driving." In fact, Government advice is not to drink above this level regularly AT ALL, even when you're not driving. To suggest that this is a safe level for driving is dangerously misleading. The drink-drive limit is defined in terms of blood alcohol content \(BAC). This is influenced by a lot of different factors, making it impractical to work out BAC from the number of drinks consumed. It is not a good idea to try to guess whether you're over the limit or not when driving. It's much safer not to drink at all if you're going to drive.
Gemma Charles - 14/07/2009
Hi Rachel. Thanks for your feedback. The information on units and driving comes from the government's directgov website, which I'm sure that as a research manager you are aware of. Also the potency of a drink cannot be marketed.
Rachel Seabrook - 17/07/2009
Hi Gemma, Yes, I am aware of the Directgov website, but didn't know that it contained this piece of advice. Thanks for drawing my attention to this. I have contacted them and asked them to change it. Rachel