Have you seen this new Miller Lite commercial? It debuted on the NCAA men's basketball tournament? Still not sure? It's so remarkably ordinary, there's a very good reason you don't remember.
So take another look...
So take another look...
Actually, it seems that "ordinary" was exactly what the misguided ad agency was going for. Every activity depicted--from bowling to barbecues to couch-potato-ing--seems designed to depict "everyday-ness." And across it all, there's a low-income/blue-collar look to the culturally stereotyped images, accompanied by an announcer's echoed voice recorded to sound amateur. Then there's the pounding-but-forgettable garage-band track. Ordinary as all get-out.
"la biére ordinarie"
The ad probably was sold to the clients as an homage to everyman. No doubt some dressed-in-all-black ad guy thoughtfully intoned an "insight" along the lines of: "Ordinary people, when they're doing ordinary things, drink beer." And it could be argued the creative people portrayed exactly that. But in doing so, they also did what ad-agency hipsters get away with all too often: They made a totally ineffective ad. An ad for "any beer."
Not only is there is nothing aspirational here, there's nothing here to cause anyone to choose Miller Lite.
Nothing about how it tastes. Nothing about how it's made. Nothing at all that would make anyone believe the beer is special or distinctive in any respect. With the exception of the logo at the end of the ad and the tiny images of Miller Lite cans and bottles, this ad could be promoting any brand of beer. At great cost, MillerCoors bought a generic beer ad.
It can be reasonably argued that, over the years, the creation and funding of beer ads that do not sell a particular brand, but rather all beer generically, represents the single greatest waste of money in marketing. Literally billions. "Grab some Buds" was really, "Grab some buds." Bud Light's big "whatever parties" could as easily be Coors Light parties. Or Busch Light parties. Heineken's been running generic beer ads for at least a decade now.
When clients surrender their marketing instincts and hand over the "creative vision" to ad-agency hipsters, the stage is set for generic beer advertising. Creative people are all about "the film" (and how their creative friends, awards committees, and potential next-employers see that film), and least about "the brand." To many of them, the brand's role is simply to pay for their art. It'd be hard to conjure a better example than this Miller Lite film-as-ad.
Not that long ago, we ran an article on Miller Lite's latest ad agency appointment, and noted the MillerCoors top marketing guy gushing about his new LosAngeles-based ad agency. Said he: "... it's all happening in Los Angeles right now," which, he boasted, "(is) at the intersection of all great things: creativity, design, technology, entertainment, music...."
In the most remarkable of coincidences, ordinary folks engaged in ordinary backyard pool parties drinking ordinary beer seem to live at that same "intersection of all great things."
Whodathunk?!?
"la biére ordinarie"
The ad probably was sold to the clients as an homage to everyman. No doubt some dressed-in-all-black ad guy thoughtfully intoned an "insight" along the lines of: "Ordinary people, when they're doing ordinary things, drink beer." And it could be argued the creative people portrayed exactly that. But in doing so, they also did what ad-agency hipsters get away with all too often: They made a totally ineffective ad. An ad for "any beer."
Not only is there is nothing aspirational here, there's nothing here to cause anyone to choose Miller Lite.
Nothing about how it tastes. Nothing about how it's made. Nothing at all that would make anyone believe the beer is special or distinctive in any respect. With the exception of the logo at the end of the ad and the tiny images of Miller Lite cans and bottles, this ad could be promoting any brand of beer. At great cost, MillerCoors bought a generic beer ad.
It can be reasonably argued that, over the years, the creation and funding of beer ads that do not sell a particular brand, but rather all beer generically, represents the single greatest waste of money in marketing. Literally billions. "Grab some Buds" was really, "Grab some buds." Bud Light's big "whatever parties" could as easily be Coors Light parties. Or Busch Light parties. Heineken's been running generic beer ads for at least a decade now.
When clients surrender their marketing instincts and hand over the "creative vision" to ad-agency hipsters, the stage is set for generic beer advertising. Creative people are all about "the film" (and how their creative friends, awards committees, and potential next-employers see that film), and least about "the brand." To many of them, the brand's role is simply to pay for their art. It'd be hard to conjure a better example than this Miller Lite film-as-ad.
Not that long ago, we ran an article on Miller Lite's latest ad agency appointment, and noted the MillerCoors top marketing guy gushing about his new LosAngeles-based ad agency. Said he: "... it's all happening in Los Angeles right now," which, he boasted, "(is) at the intersection of all great things: creativity, design, technology, entertainment, music...."
In the most remarkable of coincidences, ordinary folks engaged in ordinary backyard pool parties drinking ordinary beer seem to live at that same "intersection of all great things."
Whodathunk?!?
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