I will never turn down a Coors Light. While it’s not my favorite, it’s perfectly fine, an extremely drinkable beer that goes down smoothly. Even if you’re not a fan of the taste, you can knock ’em back so easily that it hardly matters. Maybe, though, you are a fan of the taste. A big fan. But does anyone love the flavor enough to savor it throughout the entirety of a March Madness basketball game? Coors Light sure is hoping so with its new beer-flavored lollipops.
A press release sent to The Takeout tells us that these alcohol-free suckers are called “Chillollipops” (totally catchy and easy to say, sure), and are so named because of the calming effect that comes with sucking on hard candy.
“March is one of the most stressful times of the year for a college basketball fan,” said Marcelo Pascoa, vice president of marketing for Coors. “During all the incredible highs and lows of March basketball, Coors Light is the brand to bring a moment of chill.”
Questionably-flavored lollipops aside (apparently the top layer is foam-inspired, whatever that means!), is there merit to the candy’s intended use? Can sucking on hard candy help keep us calm in stressful moments?
Does sucking on candy calm us down?
The therapy app BetterHelp recently shared a TikTok claiming that sucking on a sour candy like a Warhead could help with panic attacks. While I’m hesitant to tell anyone to trust every therapist they see on TikTok, at least here the argument makes sense. Both the act of sucking and the shock of the sourness distract your brain from the anxiety-induced panic. But the Chillollipops aren’t sour, and Coors Light doesn’t necessarily have a prominent disarming flavor like Warheads do.
Working your way through a hard candy can also serve as a simple distraction that keeps your mind and body from placing all your focus on the source of your stress. So if a sucker in your mouth prevents you from, say, grinding your teeth in the hopes of a buzzer-beater, you’re already better off than you were without it.
Former soccer player and current manager Eduardo Coudet (pictured above) spent the entirety of a January match between his team, RC Celta de Vigo, and Sevilla FC with a lollipop not far from his lips, so maybe there’s something to be said for the candy’s usage during high-stakes sports games in particular.
Evidence presented by Pascoa in the Coors Light press release seems more based on vibes than science.
“Will it work? We don’t know,” Pascoa said, “but we can’t imagine anyone has ever been unhappy or angry with a lollipop in their mouth, so we wanted to give the Coors Light Chillollipop experiment a try.”
Well, if that’s not a chill answer, I don’t know what is.