Kentucky football’s Will Levis and Ale-8-One, imagine the possibilities

News item: “Kentucky’s Ale-8-One Soda Announces NIL Partnership with University of Kentucky star quarterback Will Levis.”

“This exciting partnership will launch this fall with a series of activations across the region,” said Kevin Price, chief marketing officer for Ale-8-One.

Now we’re talking.

Over the past year, Levis has entered into various name, image and likeness deals with area companies, including legendary Thoroughbred establishment Claiborne Farm in Paris (to promote stallion War of Will) as well as auto dealership Paul Miller Ford in Lexington, just to name a couple. Joining forces with Winchester-based Ale-8-One is a bit different, however.

Imagine the possibilities. After all, Levis first gained national recognition by eating a brown banana, peel and all, on social media. That video went viral, landing Levis on the “Today” show. Then we found out that the Penn State transfer likes mayonnaise in his coffee. Just think what creative things he could do with the secret Ale-8-One formula that produces, as Southern Living put it, “a gingery, citrusy little number that tastes like a crisper, more mellowed (read: less spicy) take on ginger beer.”

History has it Ale-8-One is the only soft drink invented in Kentucky still in existence. The Ale-8-One bottling company was founded by G.L. Wainscott in 1902, and the drink itself has been on shelves in the iconic green bottle since 1926. Its distribution has remained primarily inside the state. Especially of late, however, under the guidance of Fielding Rogers, the company has branched out to include such varieties as an Orange Cream Soda Ale-8-One, Cherry Ale-8-One and a Blackberry Ale-8-One. This summer, the company printed special labels on bottles to commemorate George Rogers Clark winning the 2022 Boys’ State Basketball Tournament.

Full disclosure, as someone who grew up in Clark County, I confess my bias to the soft drink with the unique name in the green bottle. It’s easy to become hooked on the stuff to the point where as a kid you searched the various vending machines in Winchester to find the ones that delivered bottles so cold shavings of ice could be found just below the neck. Talk about slices of heaven.

Moreover, it is a known fact that Ale-8-One is the staple of the Winchester food pyramid. Ale-8-One and beer cheese, of course. Any town that loves a food item to the point of holding its own festival for it — Winchester’s Beer Cheese Festival — automatically assures that food item a permanent spot in its local diet.

I admit that not everyone shares the love. In fact, there may not be a more polarizing drink. You either love Ale-8-One or you hate it. Not much room in between. You either believe it to be nectar from the gods, or swamp water from the nearest creek. Ale-8-One has been known to be shipped around our great nation to the unfortunate who lack access to the product. (Many are expatriates of Central Kentucky.) Others have vowed, after one taste, to never, ever, ever let their lips touch the evil concoction again.

With Levis being born in Massachusetts before moving to Connecticut, and whose first three years of college were spent in State College, Pennsylvania, my guess is he had never sampled, much less heard of Ale-8-One before arriving in the Bluegrass. And I doubt Levis will be using or expanding on his crazy culinary habits to promote the product. He won’t need to. The drink is distinctive and controversial enough on its own.

But now that UK football’s face of the franchise has experienced liquid enlightenment to the point of becoming a spokesman, just think of what might happen. Ale-8-One could be his superpower.

Should Levis have a spectacular season, quarterbacks from across the country would be lining up to buy cases of the magic potion. Should Levis shock the world and win the Heisman Trophy, the Winchester bottling plant might experience great difficulty keeping the product in stock. Ale-8-One could go nationwide!

That’s a problem I’m sure both the company and Levis would be thrilled to have, not to mention Big Blue Nation.

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