• by Steve Ellwanger , May 12, 2023

Iconic Colorado beer brand Coors Banquet is marking this year’s 150^th anniversary with a new global campaign called “Start Your Legacy” that’s tied to an initiative to help small-business owners.

To support the campaign, Coors Banquet has released a commercial featuring the voice of actor Cole Hauser—who plays cowboy Rip Wheeler in the Coors-sponsored television series “Yellowstone.”

The spot opens on a grainy image of snow-capped mountains and cuts to a roaring river as Hauser says, “The same Rocky Mountain water. The same brewing tradition that started 150 years ago in Golden, Colorado.”

Images of Coors Banquet in the hands of rock stars, smugglers, cowboys and presidents play throughout as Hauser tells viewers that compromise isn’t part of the Coors Banquet legacy.

“What do you want to go down in history for?”

Starting this week, the brand is inviting legal-age consumers to go online and share their small-business aspirations as part of the Coors Banquet Legacy Fund until May 24.

Winning criteria include potential small businesses that make “a positive impact in the community.”

A panel of “qualified judges” will determine which 15 entrepreneurs will each receive $15,000.

“We understand how tough it can be to get the support to start a passion project or business, so we want to give a kickstart to legacies in the making,” Coors Banquet senior marketing manager Tracey Bien Schenck said in a news release.

The Coors Banquet 150^th anniversary will be celebrated at a live event in Coors Banquet’s birthplace of Golden, Colorado with live music performances.