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Wow — dope really does affect your memory. Because in all the yapping over making “Rocky Mountain High” a second official state song, no one at the Colorado Legislature mentioned a potential snag. Back in 2005, Coors Brewing Co. bought the rights to the song — the lyrics and music, if not John Denver’s own tortured warbling — which it used as a soundtrack for an advertising campaign that included a TV commercial featuring failed senatorial candidate Peter Coors (seen here) touting the homegrown brew.
Would that Coors deal put a halt to the Statehouse hootenanny? I called the Coors hotline to find out — but reached a communications expert in New York City (Coors merged with Molson even as Pete Coors was running for Senate), who didn’t even know that Colorado had a legislature.
A couple of hours later, I got a call from a Coors rep in Golden, who said they were hunting down the “Rocky Mountain High” contract details. (Apparently beer affects those brain cells, too.) And a couple more hours later, they provided the answer: Coors had the rights for two ad campaigns, and two ad campaigns only. The state is free to negotiate its own deal.
Whew. All together now: “Friends around the campfire, and everybody’s high… high…. high…” — Patricia Calhoun
