Coors Brewing Company is utilizing its association with the National Football League to create excitement around the Coors Light brand with its “Silver Ticket” promotion. The Silver Ticket is a multi-ply, variable-imaged, pressure-sensitive, promotional label that is delivered to consumers through a multi-tiered platform of Coors Light packaging. The label is applied to the insides of specially marked cases of Original Coors and Coors Light products. Consumers will pull loose the top layer of the label and utilize the Silver Ticket's variable-imaged entry code printed on the label online at www.coorslight.com to enter the sweepstakes. Once entered, they can win NFL memorabilia, NFL partner prizes, entry into exclusive Silver Ticket parties, tickets to NFL games and spectacular Super Bowl prize packages. The program launched Aug. 1, and will run throughout the 2006 NFL regular season.

The two-ply label, which is supplied by Smyth Companies (www.smythco.com), uses a permanent adhesive on the base ply that is applied to the carton and a dry-release adhesive on the top layer that is removed by the consumer. This is a critical element of the label, because the consumer must be able to easily remove the top layer, and there can be no adhesive adhering to the top label after it is removed. The base layer of the label is paper, while the top layer is metallized tagstock that has been four-color, UV flexo-printed, after which a clear film is laminated over the top. The labels are fanfolded and supplied 2,400 packed in a box. The first and last labels extend from the box, so the labels from consecutive boxes can be easily fastened together without stopping the labeling operation.

The labels are applied to the inside of the carton blanks by the carton manufacturers before the cartons are glued. The labels must be applied to the minor flap of a carton so that the can chimes don't damage the label when they are loaded. Graphic Packaging International (www.graphicpkg.com) has four label-application systems—two at its plant in Golden, CO, and two in Lawrenceburg, TN—and Temple Inland (www.templeinland.com) has one system at its plant in Wheat Ridge, CO.

The promotional implementation and label-application systems were supplied by Red Rock Technologies (www.interactivepackaging.com). This is a patented, continuous, modular system that utilizes state-of-the-art motion controls to handle very high-speed applications—about 35,000 cartons/min for the Coors labels. Both the cartons and the label web are moving continuously. Sensors detect the gap between carton blanks as they enter the labeling area and adjust the speed of the servo-driven label feed to apply the label at the correct location on the blank.

The applicator is changed to run different carton sizes by pushing a button on the setup panel. This nonstop method of applying labels at ultra-high speeds is easier on p-s label webs than with traditional stop/start methods, because it allows for higher speeds and provides more-forgiving web handling and control.

The labels for the Coors Silver Ticket are supplied in fanfolded because fanfold labels eliminate the time required for roll change, and these thick labels lay flat in the storage container without curl up. The label supply is positioned away from the application area, facilitating safer and more convenient loading of labels, and an antistatic, flexible infeed track provides a smooth transfer of the web from the container to the applicator.

“The NFL is the most popular sports property in the U.S., and there is tremendous value for Coors Light to be associated with it,” says Erik Carlson, Coors Brewing Company, mega promotions manager. “In addition, according to eWEEK, about 95 percent of the estimated 75 million avid NFL fans in America never attend a regular-season game. With this in mind, we came up with the Silver Ticket promotion to give adult consumers a chance to experience the sights, sounds and excitement of an NFL game with an ice-cold Coors Light or Coors.”