Bullshit is not a cover for bad marketing.

I saw this commercial for Corona Light the other day while watching some sporting event. It struck me that it was very different from the laid back images of the Corona Extra campaign, and I wondered why.



After reading an interview with the marketing director, I'm still not sure I know.

The Times quotes Jim Sabia, executive vice president of marketing for Crown Imports as saying, "The campaign takes what consumers know about Corona Extra – vacation in a bottle – and energizes and contemporizes it."

I love it when people talk like this to justify dumb marketing moves. It's a party on the beach with beautiful young adults. This spot could be for any beer and no amount of marketing-speak can hide that.

This isn't the first time a beer marketer walked away from a well defined position in an attempt to expand and "contemporize" their brand. In the '80s Miller Lite opened the door for Bud and Coors by dumping the "Great Taste. Less Filling." spots for "It's it and that's that," A mistake they still haven't recovered from.

The "Vacation in a bottle" position is a great one. Corona has been very successful by being different from other beers. With this effort, however, they're becoming just like everyone else and giving me yet another reason not to drink their beer.