And please tell me that not a single dime was wasted “researching” this. And please tell me that no better ideas (such as NOT running this) were discarded in favor of telling me that it is now possible to purchase Miller Lite in a wide-mouth aluminum container (100% recyclable variety).
This is the very opposite of good beer advertising. It has zero appetite appeal. It has zero charm. It has zero humanity. Zero fun.
Good beer advertising understands that consumers’ beer choice is not a rational decision. Beer is fun. It really is that simple. And to pretend otherwise is to go in precisely the wrong direction.
The rational thing to do is NOT to drink beer. So beer advertising has to serve as the license to have fun. So, logically, the ads should serve as the slightly devilish friend winking and elbowing you in the ribs. Cajoling you into going to the pub till you say “F**k it! Why not?”. The best current example of this approach is the Dos Equis ad campaign: The Most Interesting Man in The World. I have found myself drinking Dos Equis (instead of Modelo Especiale) PURELY as a result of liking the ads.
I understand why Miller put that wretchedly awful billboard up though. Being fun and exciting is hard. It takes skill and finesse. But most of all it takes caring about the other person. In this case the passerby. And caring about what people actually think of you (your product, your brand, your beer, your billboard) complicates your life.
It’s much easier to pretend that people in the real world really give a shite about your “wide mouth” (sounds icky, doesn’t it) 100% recyclable aluminum can. And that putting up ugly ads that look sound and feel like a slide from a powerpoint presentation will actually bring people closer to your brand.
What a waste. If only they’d just used common sense.
UPDATE: UK ad legend dave trott just provided me with the UK equivalent of the above ad. it looks nicer, as you might exppect. I’m sure this tested through the roof too. Yawn. It’s beer people. it’s not that complicated. unless you haven’t the slightest idea what you’re doing in the first place.
