How Shohei Ohtani and Coors Made Resellers Hundreds

Here's an example of clever marketing

News

By RC Staff

04 October 2023

Key Points

Coors produced a special can in honor of a Shohei Ohtani foul ball
The cans have a black spot, identical to the damage produced by the ball
They sold for $17, and would go on to resell for $100+

Back in August, Shohei Ohtani hit an absolute missile into the stands. The ball went foul, but it was still a pretty shocking display of the two-way player’s power. In fact, the ball was going so fast that it actually damaged a digital display for a Coors Light ad, and knocked a small black square on the screen. A few weeks later, Coors turned the moment into a piece of collectible merchandise. Fans went wild for these, and the commemorative cans sold out within minutes and are now reselling.

What are the Coors Light Shohei cans?

This isn’t a baseball blog, but we’ll take any opportunity we can to talk about Shohei Ohtani. Born in Japan and signed by the Angels in 2017, “Shotime” is unquestionably the biggest player in this generation of baseball, possibly of all-time.

He’s one of the best pitchers active right now, and also one of the best hitters at the same time. It’s actually pretty hard to find a comparison between Ohtani and any other active player in any other sport. The most obvious player to compare him to is Babe Ruth, but the fact is that Ohtani is pretty much blowing Babe out of the water.

In short, he’s a big deal. Back in August, Ohtani crushed a pitch off of Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco. The ball ultimately went foul, but it was still an incredible display of power from Ohtani. It was moving fast enough to damage a digital screen, leaving a black square on the Coors Light advertisement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Ri1ySmacs

There must have been a Coors marketer watching the game, because the company wasted no time and seized the opportunity. In under two weeks, Coors sold a limited edition can to commemorate the hit.

A small black square has been applied to the can in the exact spot that Ohtani left his mark during the game. If you didn’t have the context, this would be a pretty inscrutable design. For fans of Shohei Ohtani though, it’s a very clever, and very popular piece of merch.

Coors sold their commemorative Shohei Ohtani Coors Light cans through their website for $17. These were empty cans by the way.

shohei ohtani Coors Light empty cans for sale

Shohei Coors Cans Resell

When these cans went live on September 5, fans were quick to snatch them up. Even if they couldn’t get you drunk, they would be a neat addition to a shelf or mancave, and were extremely popular. Within a few hours, all of the cans were sold out. Unfortunately for Ohtani’s many fans in Japan, these were only available in the U.S.

And once they had sold out, it wouldn’t be long before they would resell too. Now that cans have officially started to ship, we’ve seen aftermarket sales for them. Right now, a Shohei Ohtani Coors Light can is selling for around $100.

All together, this was an incredibly clever move by the Coors marketing team. Beer and baseball are already a popular combination, but to capitalize on an opportunity like this in such a short time frame is pretty remarkable. We also appreciate the extra money that could have been made by reselling the cans.

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