Why Modelo is moving away from celebrities and athletes

Modelo’s fighting spirit is alive and well but what its drinkers are fighting for is changing.

A new campaign breaking this month from Grey evolves Modelo’s tagline from “brewed for those with a fighting spirit,” to “the mark of a fighter.” The WPP agency won the account last year.

The fighters themselves are changing as well, as the brand is moving away from featuring celebrities and athletes in ads, said Greg Gallagher, VP of brand marketing for the beer division at Constellation Brands, which owns Modelo. 

“We used to tell stories about making it, getting to the top, these big achievements. And it was really interesting what we heard from consumers: That’s not what they’re thinking about,” Gallagher said. “They’ve refocused on … the things that bring them happiness and fulfillment.”

Four new “mark of a fighter” TV ads feature a bodega owner, a grandmother, a struggling rock band and a bartender. Each ad focuses on the noble grind the characters face, and the reward of a Modelo beer at the end of their days.

Traditionally strong with Hispanic consumers in Western states, Modelo’s penetration and buy rate improved by double digits among non-Hispanic consumers last year, Gallagher said, noting that the fighting spirit message, which rung true with Hispanics in the U.S., “has resonated quite strongly across all consumer groups.” 

Mindful of the brand’s success, Grey approached changing its advertising cautiously.

“The last campaign wasn’t broken … It was doing really, really well. So at first, we were like ‘let’s evolve it slightly because we don’t want to come out of the gate and change everything up when things were going so well,’” said Sara Worthington, executive creative director, Grey. “But as we did the research … we found that the culture had shifted since they launched it, significantly, in what people value.

“The things that we care about and we fight for have shifted over the last six years to be more emotional [and] meaningful … like time with family,” Worthington continued. “So we wanted to shift that conceptually to be focused on those types of rewards.”

For those same reasons, the brand chose not to pursue celebrities in this round of ads. Previous commercials had featured the tattoo artist Mister Cartoon and the NBA star Damian Lillard.

“A major evolution is the use of a celebrity or a known person to more relatable characters and individuals and stories that people could see themselves in,” Worthington said. "Maybe it’s your abuela that has the fighting spirit,” she added, referring to the Spanish word for grandmother.

Tweaking the slogan helped to add “badge value” to the beer and make it a reward, said Armando Flores, executive creative director of Grey.

“I think fighting spirit is still in the middle of it, but ‘mark of a fighter’ is a different world,” Flores said. “Before, the fighting spirit was more of a theoretical thing that existed inside our drinkers. With ‘mark of a fighter,’ the beer itself becomes the trophy for someone who exhibits the fighting spirit. So we really wanted to give a role to the beer that makes it central to the fighting spirit.”

One thing that hasn’t changed for Modelo ads is their distinct music—known as “The Ecstasy of Gold” and originally composed by Ennio Morricone for “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”

Modelo, which Gallagher said was the biggest national spender in the entire beer category last year, is increasing its national media budget by 14% this year. Modelo had U.S. measured-media spending of $151 million in 2022, according to Vivvix.