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Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Unless otherwise noted in this report, any description of "we", "us" or "our" includes Molson Coors Brewing Company ("MCBC" or the "Company"), principally a holding company, and its operating and non-operating subsidiaries included within our reporting segments and Corporate. Our reporting segments include: Molson Coors Canada ("MCC" or Canada segment), operating in Canada; MillerCoors LLC ("MillerCoors" or U.S. segment), which is accounted for by us under the equity method of accounting, operating in the United States ("U.S."); Molson Coors Europe (Europe segment), operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom ("U.K."); and Molson Coors International ("MCI"), operating in various other countries.
References to Central Europe reflect our operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia, as a result of our acquisition (the "Acquisition") of StarBev Holdings S.à r.l. ("StarBev") from StarBev L.P. (the "Seller") on June 15, 2012, and the results of these operations are included within our Europe segment.
Unless otherwise indicated, information in this report is presented in U.S. dollars ("USD" or "$") and comparisons are to comparable prior periods as noted below.
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements reflect all adjustments which are necessary for a fair statement of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP"). Such unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations.
These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 ("Annual Report") and have been prepared on a consistent basis with the accounting policies described in Note 1 of the Notes to the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements ("Notes") included in our Annual Report. Our accounting policies did not change in the first quarter of 2014, with the exception of a change to our policy for recognizing advertising expenses in interim periods as discussed below. Additionally, in order to provide further clarity around our policy regarding the classification of special items in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations, we have expanded our related disclosure as reflected below.
Special Items
Our special items represent charges incurred or benefits realized that either we do not believe to be indicative of our core operations, or we believe are significant to our current operating results warranting separate classification; specifically, such items are considered to be one of the following:
•infrequent or unusual items,
•impairment or asset abandonment-related losses,
•restructuring charges and other atypical employee-related costs, or
•fees on termination of significant operating agreements and gains (losses) on disposal of investments.

The items classified as special items are not necessarily non-recurring, however, they are deemed to be incremental to income earned or costs incurred by the Company in conducting normal operations, and therefore are presented separately from other components of operating income.

Our Fiscal Year

On November 14, 2013, our Board of Directors approved a resolution to change MCBC's fiscal year from a 52/53 week fiscal year to a calendar year. As such, our 2013 fiscal year was extended from December 28, 2013, to December 31, 2013, with subsequent fiscal years beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31 of each year. Beginning January 1, 2014, quarterly results reflect the three month periods ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. This change aligned our fiscal year and interim reporting periods with our Central Europe business and MillerCoors, which were already following a monthly fiscal reporting calendar. Unless otherwise indicated, and with the exception of the Central Europe business and MillerCoors, the first quarter of 2013 and the three months ended March 30, 2013 refer to the thirteen weeks ended March 30, 2013. The first quarter of 2014 refers to the three months ended March 31, 2014. Fiscal year 2014 refers to the 12 months ending December 31, 2014, and fiscal year 2013 refers to the period from December 30, 2012, to December 31, 2013. The impact of the additional days in fiscal year 2013 is immaterial to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2014, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year.
Change in Interim Period Accounting for Advertising Expenses

In previous years' interim periods, including the quarterly periods within fiscal year 2013, we recognized advertising costs in expense during the fiscal year based on the proportion of sales volumes for the interim period in relation to the estimated annual sales volumes. U.S. GAAP permits the allocation of advertising costs across interim periods within a fiscal year when future periods benefit from the expenditure. Advertising expenses were not deferred from one fiscal year to the next. Effective beginning the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, we changed our method of accounting for advertising expenses for interim periods such that advertising expense is now recognized as incurred. We adopted this change as a result of management’s belief that the new method is preferable and results in a more objective measure of quarterly expense that will better support planning and resource allocation decisions by management, results in improved financial statements for investor analysis, and further aligns our treatment with that of our U.S. operations within MillerCoors. The new policy of expensing advertising costs as incurred additionally eliminates the uncertainty in estimating overall expected sales volumes, advertising expenses, and the benefit period of the advertising on an interim basis, and conforms our interim accounting policy with that used to prepare the annual financial statements. The change has been applied retrospectively to all prior interim periods presented. The quarterly impact of the change in accounting policy on marketing, general and administrative expenses and the associated impact on income tax expense, as well as the impact to certain subtotals and diluted earnings per share within our unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operations, is as follows:
 
Three Months Ended
March 30, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
June 29, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
September 28, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
December 31, 2013
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
(In millions)
Marketing, general and administrative expenses
$
(285.3
)
 
$
(293.9
)
 
$
(304.3
)
 
$
(319.5
)
 
$
(307.8
)
 
$
(290.8
)
 
$
(296.4
)
 
$
(289.6
)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes
$
41.4

 
$
32.8

 
$
312.4

 
$
297.2

 
$
155.4

 
$
172.4

 
$
145.3

 
$
152.1

Income tax benefit (expense)
$
(3.5
)
 
$
(2.0
)
 
$
(34.1
)
 
$
(30.0
)
 
$
(32.7
)
 
$
(37.2
)
 
$
(13.7
)
 
$
(14.8
)
Net income (loss) attributable to Molson Coors Brewing Company
$
35.6

 
$
28.5

 
$
278.4

 
$
267.3

 
$
121.8

 
$
134.3

 
$
131.5

 
$
137.2

Diluted net income (loss) attributable to Molson Coors Brewing Company per share
$
0.20

 
$
0.16

 
$
1.51

 
$
1.45

 
$
0.66

 
$
0.73

 
$
0.71

 
$
0.74

As noted above, under our historical treatment, advertising expenses were not deferred from one fiscal year to the next. Therefore, the change in interim accounting had no impact on full year consolidated results.

The following table shows the impact to income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes by segment as a result of the change in accounting policy for advertising expense. The full impact of this change in presentation is reflected within marketing, general and administrative expenses.
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes by segment:
 
Three Months Ended
March 30, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
June 29, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
September 28, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
December 31, 2013
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
(In millions)
Canada
$
36.4

 
$
28.4

 
$
137.3

 
$
128.6

 
$
128.7

 
$
143.6

 
$
60.9

 
$
62.7

U.S.
$
117.4

 
$
117.4

 
$
172.6

 
$
172.6

 
$
148.3

 
$
148.3

 
$
100.7

 
$
100.7

Europe
$
(3.7
)
 
$
(5.2
)
 
$
81.6

 
$
75.8

 
$
(69.5
)
 
$
(67.4
)
 
$
25.9

 
$
31.1

MCI
$
(6.1
)
 
$
(5.2
)
 
$
(3.3
)
 
$
(4.0
)
 
$
(2.4
)
 
$
(2.4
)
 
$
—

 
$
(0.2
)
Corporate
$
(102.6
)
 
$
(102.6
)
 
$
(75.8
)
 
$
(75.8
)
 
$
(49.7
)
 
$
(49.7
)
 
$
(42.2
)
 
$
(42.2
)

As noted above, under our historical treatment, advertising expenses were not deferred from one fiscal year to the next. Therefore, the change in interim accounting had no impact on full year segment results.
Foreign Currency Translation Tax Adjustment
During the third quarter of 2013, we identified that we had incorrectly recorded tax adjustments related to certain foreign currency movements in the financial statements for both the first and second quarters of 2013 that misstated non-current deferred tax assets, accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), and comprehensive income by immaterial amounts. We have revised the foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax, included in other comprehensive income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) in the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income (loss) for the three months ended March 30, 2013, and will revise in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) for the three and six months ended June 29, 2013, in future filings. These errors were corrected in the third quarter of 2013 and therefore had no impact on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2013. Note that the as adjusted amounts below also reflect the adjustments related to the change in interim accounting for advertising expense as discussed above.
 
Three Months Ended
March 30, 2013
 
Three Months Ended
June 29, 2013
 
Six Months Ended
June 29, 2013
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
As Reported
 
As Adjusted
 
(In millions)
Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax
$
(261.3
)
 
$
(280.7
)
 
$
(79.4
)
 
$
(113.6
)
 
$
(340.7
)
 
$
(394.3
)
Total other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax
$
(241.8
)
 
$
(261.2
)
 
$
(52.5
)
 
$
(86.7
)
 
$
(294.3
)
 
$
(347.9
)
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Molson Coors Brewing Company
$
(206.2
)
 
$
(232.7
)
 
$
225.9

 
$
180.6

 
$
19.7

 
$
(52.1
)