Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani broke Coors Light’s ad with a foul ball during a game. Rather than fix the embarrassing flaw, the brand turned the single damaged outdoor ad into an entire unofficial sports sponsorship.

In just 48 hours, Coors Light turned the broken ad into a special edition can. The brand then promoted the can with an innovative use of outdoor media as the same black square was added to existing media placements, including local OOH in the Anaheim area. The broken ad was also run during a live game on every screen inside Angel Stadium.

Shohei Ohtani is one of the world’s most celebrated athletes and is widely considered by experts to be the greatest player in baseball history. Never before in the modern era of baseball has a professional player attempted pitching and hitting full-time, let alone succeed in doing so. Thanks to his unique skill, he is currently the highest-paid athlete in the world.

Over the past 30 years, Coors Light's biggest competitor had spent millions to insert itself into the identity of Major League Baseball and its fans. However, the sport itself is actually the perfect drinking occasion for Coors Light.

Baseball is a slow-paced game, and its spectators often suit the profile of the brand's primary target— those looking for moments to chill, unwind, and get together with close friends. Coors Light's challenge was connecting with this audience, who embodied the brand's values but were already spoken for.

The perfect moment arrived with one swing of a bat. During a game, Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player in baseball history, broke a Coors Light ad with a foul ball, leaving a black square of broken pixels right on the can. Rather than fix the embarrassing flaw, Coors Light turned their broken outdoor ad into an entire unofficial sports sponsorship.

After launch, the campaign went viral overnight. Initially launching in the U.S. with $0 in sponsorships or player endorsements, Coors Lights Out became a global phenomenon on social media and generated media coverage in design, lifestyle, and sports outlets worldwide. Coors Light even trended higher than the official beer of baseball.

The special edition cans quickly sold out in under 24 hours. The demand was so high that fans added their own black squares to existing cans, merch, and anything else with the Coors Light logo. Even the broken panel itself became a piece of baseball memorabilia that was auctioned off to collectors for over $7,000.

Ohtani's fans in his home country were also eager to participate in the experience. So Coors Light made brand history by bringing its cans to Japan for the first time ever.

Coors Light created a purposefully flawed special edition can that was an identical replica of its outdoor ad that was broken during a game by baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani. The can was designed to mimic the can from the damaged screen, as the black square of dead pixels on the ad was placed precisely in the same spot on the real can.