After the recent contest announcement by Molson Coors Brewing Co. Canadian iPhone enthusiasts were happy, but the company has now backed down and is claiming that the iPhone references were just a mistake.

Molson Dry beer was meant to be giving away iPhones as part of their marketing contest. The company specified that iPhones will only be available as of January 2008 on the wireless network of Rogers Communications Inc, and that while the devices themselves were free, winners will have to pay for the cell phone service themselves. This is all the unofficial confirmation that many need and eager buyers rejoiced, but the company is now backing down and changing its statement.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. is no longer offering iPhones as a prize, claiming that it was just a mistake. Furthermore, the company now claims to have no idea whatsoever if and when the iPhone will be launched in Canada. The story is that they only wanted to give their customers a general idea of when the prizes would be available. To make things even more credible, spokeswoman Marie-Hélène Lagacé also corrected an earlier statement that Molson was on the Rogers waiting list for the iPhone, by confirming that there is no such list in existence.

The entire thing sounds all too much like school children being caught fibbing, but it could also very well be that Molson Coors Brewing Co. let the cat out of the bag too soon, something that is known to make Steve Jobs very unhappy. Obviously this backtracking is not going to put the cat back in the bag, nor is it likely to make Jobs a happy camper, but they have to at least try.
Of course, it might not be completely out of the question for this to have been nothing more than a publicity stunt intended to give the company a free ride on the iPhone train.