Coors Ambushed At Super Bowl?

"Ambushing" is tough to prevent, even in its simplest forms.  Sponsors want protection to back up their investment. An ill-timed ambush can dilute a profile sponsorship in seconds. Abmushing can be seen in a variety of forms ranging from the rogue sampling outside your event or on a nationally televised platform such as this...

Recently, I was  "Googling" Coors and SuperBowl to see if Coors had a super bowl ad this year.  As I watched the game all I saw were Bud/Bud Light ads. I came across this.  It looks like Jon Kander at IEG was thinking the same thing.  Coors has the exclusive on the NFL but NOT the televised portion of the Super Bowl.  How can you activate a year round major sporting sponsorship and not link it all together during the pinnacle game?  Actually, its brilliant move by Anheuser-Busch.  Coors outbid AB a few years ago for the rights to the NFL.  AB continued its heavy Super Bowl ad campaign (which is exclusive until 2012).  Coors doesn't even have the right to advertise in one of the biggest sporting events of the year, not to mention the sport in which they are an exclusive partner.  The genius of this? The general public still perceives AB as the official beer sponsors of the NFL.

"A June 2009 Turnkey Sports and Entertainment survey noted that 43.9 percent and 47.4 percent of avid and casual fans, respectively, believed Anheuser-Busch was the official beer sponsor of the NFL. Meanwhile, only 26.1 percent and 10.9 percent of avid and casual fans, respectively, thought Coors was the league’s official beer."

To me this seems like one of the greatest, strategical ambushes of all-time.  Sure, Coors is pouring the booze at the stadiums, but its AB who is reaping that public awareness and brand impressions.  I would think the residual retail beer sales reflect this and have most likely paid for those TV spots 10 fold. See photo below from Ask A Copywriter, taken two hours before the Super Bowl.  Bud Light is GONE, but plenty of Coors remain.