Canada, Manitoba: The barley grown by Saskatchewan farmers may not be an aphrodisiac, but a Molson Inc. beer ad campaign in the United States is turning the Canadian farm crowd on, Reuters revealed on March 01. A series of Molson USA print and radio ads points out that the zinc in Saskatchewan barley is also common to oysters and truffles, known for their amorous properties.

"Here at Molson, we're constantly asked if our Saskatchewan barley is an aphrodisiac," one print ad states. "Those rumors are unfounded," the ad concludes. Dwayne Anderson, who grows barley on his farm near Fosston in northeast Saskatchewan, said he likes the attention the campaign is giving his crop and province, although he was skeptical about whether his crop has special powers.

"We've never made it over a million people in Saskatchewan, so either we've been exporting a whole pile of people or this beer isn't working worth a hoot!" Anderson said. "It would be interesting to run a test, eh?" he said.

The campaign was conceived when Molson USA sent its ad agency to Canada last year to learn about the ingredients of Molson brands.

"That's when they kind of got on to, 'Hey, there are some other kind of humorous qualities about Saskatchewan barley that may be of interest to a guy (age) 21 to 29,'" said Steve Breen, vice-president of marketing for Molson USA.

Rob McCaig, managing director of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Center, said very little zinc from barley makes it into beer since most is used up by the yeast during the malting process.

"It's to help yeast impotence -- it's to make sure the yeast keeps going," he said.

02 March, 2004