Temperature activated pigment has been around for ages. It's just another marketing gimmick, I'm sure they'll offer glow in the dark cans someday so drunks can find em in the dark.
I was using that as an example. Do you think somebody at Coors said we need this and went out and searched for this person, or did this person go to Coors and others?
75 years ago the coors marketing guys laid out the next 100 years of marketing ideas.
They just use a different one ever 6 months to keep them "current".
But the way these tech marketing gimmicks work, or come to light, is this:
A college kid does a senior project doing something with color activated pigment adding it to a cup so the drinker can see if it will burn them, of if the temperature has cooled enough to drink.
He then starts a company called "The not-too hot cup company".
It is of no use to the standard consumer, so they contact the R&D marketing people at 1,000s of businesses.
They also buy ad space in marketing journals and Trade mags.
These rags are where the coors guys found out about it.
The college kids company already dumped money into the research to see if the paint would adhere to the can, if it would scratch off, if it would cause cancer, etc..
So the marketing people at coors, surf the internet and read these rags. They see the add for the kids company, and buy the company outright, or license exclusivity.
Now the kid is rich, and we know when our beer is cold.