Dang, the Foy Vance song behind MillerCoors’s new Saint Archer ad campaign is one hot jam

The power of great marketing can be persuasive. Example: I have little interest in low-calorie-focused lagers. I’ve never used skateboards or bicycles for transportation. I don’t have friends to share beers or good times with. Yet, I wanted all those things after watching the ad above promoting Saint Archer Brewing Co.’s Gold brand, a light Helles-inspired brewski that is 4.2 percent ABV and 95 calories per serving. Beautiful images and direction are courtesy of Preacher, an Austin-based creative company. The song is “Shed a Little Light” by Foy Vance, an Irish musician that has a voice like a beautifully mustachioed angel.

MillerCoors bought a controlling share of Saint Archer back in 2015 — the year to buy and sell breweries. The brand now sits under MillerCoor’s Tenth and Blake umbrella, which is its craft and import business development arm (home to brands like Blue Moon Brewing Co., Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. and Terrapin Beer Co.). Saint Archer was founded in 2013 by a unique mix of cool kids in industries ranging from surfing to film to music to skateboarding. That’s the story being told subtly in these four new ads from MillerCoors.

Last year, on MillerCoors’ Behind the Beer news page, the company announced big plans for Saint Archer and its low-calorie lager. It’s testing the new craft light lager in four markets (Austin, Texas, Charlotte, N.C., Indianapolis and the entire state of Arizona) with the intent to eventually take the brand national. Light low-cal beers continue to kill it. From the blog:

Led by Michelob Ultra, above-premium lower-calorie beers have outperformed the beer industry as a whole for several years. Year-to-date through Aug. 25, Ultra is up 19.1 percent in sales dollars on a 16.8 percent rise in volume, per Nielsen. Ultra’s success drew Constellation Brands to the space, which this year launched nationally Corona Premier, a lower-calorie light lager that’s on fire, ranking as the No. 3 Nielsen growth brand in the most-recent measurement.

MillerCoors also released two 30-second spots scored to Pat Capocci’s “Delinquent Beat,” one of which is below.