It also says their Agency of Record is DDB in Chicago. It might be worth your time to call DDB, try to get an interview with the Account Director on the brand and get their point of view on how the UFC fits into their plans.

I doubt this is a good analogy. Pepsi’s success was propelled by the use of a different sweetener. Tab tasted putrid by comparison. Diet Coke was introduced in order to give Coke a product using the same sweetener (aspartame vs. saccharine). Public distaste for Tab was very real and it wouldn’t have competed successfully no matter how ingeniously it was marketed. They tried.

No matter what your feelings about the lite beers, they are unquestionably a marketing success and I don’t think A-B needs to worry. A better analogy there is the flavored colas. I happen to be a big fan of the diet cherry products and the vanilla products, too, when the latter are available. But none has ever been a runaway success whether marketed as an offshoot of the major brand or as a standalone product. (Pepsi has done it both ways and folded the standalone series after about a year.) If the lime product doesn’t fly, it will disappear.

It’s irrelevant, but I can’t help remarking on the light beers. I’ve always thought of them as GI beers. They’re the same thing that used to be served at the front and in the PXs since at least World War II. When I was in Basic Training, the guys used to make fun of the younger recruits coming back to the barracks drunk on the stuff. Experienced drinkers avoided them as much as possible. But, less alcohol means fewer calories and the advertiser who thought of slapping “Lite” on that stuff should have his remains cast in bronze and placed in a temple where all can worship.

HB