MillerCoors escalates legal action over ‘false’ Bud Light corn syrup claims
MillerCoors is ramping up moves against rival brewer AB Inbev over what it terms a ‘false and misleading advertising campaign targeting Miller Lite and Coors Light’.
MillerCoors escalates legal action over ‘false’ Bud Light Super Bowl ad
A court filing confirms that MillerCoors now intends to sue for damages over the controversy, which stems from a Bud Light Super Bowl commercial by Wieden+Kennedy New York which attacked the aforementioned brands for their use of corn syrup.
Subsequently referred to as ‘corngate’ and '#corntroversy' the affair sparked a war of words and ads between the brewing giants with MillerCoors accusing its competitor of deliberately deceiving consumers and diluting its trademarks, damaging its reputation in the process.
MillerCoors has been at pains to stress that while it does use corn syrup it does so only to aid fermentation, with none of this ingredient ultimately ending up in the beers people drink.
AB InBev maintains that is simply calling for greater transparency of the production processes.
This sparked an ongoing tit for tat advertising battle with Miller Lite and DDB Chicago responding with a spoof version of the original offending campaign, suggesting that actors prefer its own beer when not being filmed.
That followed an open letter published in the New York Times in which Miller Coors set out its case, only to be met by a tongue-in-cheek counter letter.
In its latest play Bud Light has produced a further ad campaign touting its own corn syrup free credentials.