• by Les Luchter , May 24, 2022

With Memorial Day weekend approaching, Molson Coors’ Keystone Light and Anheuser-Busch’s Busch Light are busy courting rural drinkers.

Keystone Light launched a :15 spot, “Bar Barn,” in which a man welcomes friends to his barn, which includes a bar and neon signs.

The brand has also tied in with outdoor apparel brand Realtree for a line of Keystone-colored camouflage merchandise, including sweatshirts, hats, jackets and even a pool that fits in a truck bed. A sweepstakes offers entrants a chance to win the collection.

“Sixty percent of our volume comes from rural counties,” Matt Lafferty, marketing manager for Keystone Light, told Molson Coors’ Beer & Beyond blog. “We want to celebrate the sense of community, self-sufficiency and fun that comes from that rural lifestyle they’ve chosen.”

The work with Realtree extends to the racetrack, where Team Penske’s Keystone Light-sponsored car was adorned in camo pattern for the recent NASCAR race in Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Meanwhile, Busch Light -- following earlier collaborations this year with Nascar, Kenny G and ice fishing -- has teamed with tractor company John Deere to sell limited-edition “For the Farmers” cans, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Farm Rescue nonprofit.

Busch Light and John Deere share a “passion for supporting farmers and the great heartlands of America,” said Krystyn Stowe, head of marketing, Busch Family Brands, Anheuser-Busch.

This past weekend, the two brands hosted a Cornfield Cornhole fan experience in Big Bend, Wisconsin. During the event, a John Deere tractor and ground-posted slingshot catapulted hay bales wrapped in “For the Farmers” graphics across a cornfield to reach an oversized cornhole board.

Busch Light said it has contributed more than $750,000 to Farm Rescue since 2019.

Busch Light was also involved in a tie-in during yesterday’s NASCAR race. Per TobyChristie.com, one car sported the Busch Beer logo adorned with strips of bacon, another the Smithfield Foods logo adorned with beer suds, and a related sweepstakes promised free bacon and beer “for life” to a lucky person who tweeted #BuschBacon during specific laps.

The winner will get $10,800, said to be good for two 24-packs of Busch Light a month for 30 years, and $11,687 to purchase one package of Smithfield bacon weekly for 30 years.