Coors Light Is Selling 6-Packs of Beer-Flavored Lollipops

Courtesy of Coors Light

Beer and watching sports have a longstanding relationship. It explains why sports bars are far more popular than, say, sports coffee shops. So beer brands often align promotional campaigns to major sporting events: the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup. And now that March Madness has arrived, it's not surprising that Coors Light has come up with their own tie-in: beer-flavored lollipops.

Actually, wait, that is surprising.

What do these beer-flavored lollipops (which are non-alcoholic but still intended only for adults) have to do with March Madness? Coors Light says they were inspired by research showing that sucking on lollipops and other hard candies can have a calming effect. Thus, these beer-flavored suckers — that are formulated to taste specifically similar to Coors Light and even include a foam-inspired layer on the top — are officially called "Chillollipops."

"March is one of the most stressful times of the year for a college basketball fan," Marcelo Pascoa, vice president of marketing for the Coors family of brands, said in the announcement. "During all the incredible highs and lows of March basketball, Coors Light is the brand to bring a moment of chill."

Okay, but can a lollipop really chill people out? At least one Ph.D. was willing to go on the record for the beer brand. "Emotions are contagious," Donald E. Gibson, a professor at Manhattan College, explained in a statement provided by Coors. "If there are strong emotions around us, it's very easy to be swept up in them. I believe that something as simple as a lollipop could have a calming influence in an emotionally charged situation."

Meanwhile, Pascoa was a bit more non-committal. "Will it work?" he asked. "We don't know, but we can't imagine anyone has ever been unhappy or angry with a lollipop in their mouth, so we wanted to give the Coors Light Chillollipop experiment a try."

Science aside, the underlying idea of a lollipop that tastes like Coors Light is likely to intrigue both fans and detractors of the brand — for the former to see if a candy truly can capture the essence of their favorite beer and for the latter to crack their "they've made a lollipop that tastes like water" jokes.

Coors Light says six-packs of Coors Light Chillollipops (which sadly don't appear to be shipped in their promotional tiny six-pack holder) will be available for purchase for the duration of the NCAA basketball tournament via shop.coorslight.com for $3.17 — a price inspired by the start date of the first round of March Madness.