After three seasons of organic (i.e., unpaid) product placement on Netflix’s show “Cobra Kai,” Coors Banquet is looking to make the connection more overt with a contest for eagle-eyed viewers and creative that apes the show’s style.
“Coors Banquet is practically a main character of the show,” said Stephanie Clanfield, marketing manager for Coors Banquet. “Throughout these three seasons, we’ve seen the show’s avid fan base become increasingly aware and interested in Coors Banquet.”
The new promo, “Seek the Banquets,” asks viewers to count how many times the brand’s bottles, cans and multi-packs appear throughout the show’s fourth season, which premiered on December 31. Fans can enter their guesses at SeekTheBanquets.com between January 4th and 31st. Those coming within plus or minus five appearances will be entered into a drawing to win a year’s supply of Coors Banquet and a bonsai tree.
“With shared values of grit, tradition and integrity, we felt it was now time to really engage with this amazing audience and show the series some love,” Clanfield said. “And we’re encouraging the fans to tune in by offering them a chance to win various prizes by counting our appearances in the show.”
Because Coors Banquet does not have a formal partnership with Cobra Kai, the brand is relying on creative that nods toward the show’s visual identity without making an overt tie-in. Promos include the use of watercolors, roman numerals and imagery of bonsai trees and karate dojos to make the connection. One brief video, for instance, shows two Coors Banquet bottles upon a hill against a shadow background of a bonsai tree. The headline reads, “Stream on. Stream off. Stream Banquet.”
The creative is intended to be a loving homage to the show, Clanfield said. “We love the show and have a mutual respect with the writers’ room, so our latest creative and activation is inspired by it,” she said.
