My Weekly Snack Food Post

Miller Brewing Co. appears to have a big new marketing offensive underway, and some of their claims seem awfully ambitious. The first commercial I saw, for Miller Lite, features what to many might be a dream come true. It's raining beer! We see a Paul Revere of sorts excitedly spreading the news. People are standing in the beer rain with heads raised and mouths open. One guy is even filling his pitcher from the rain gutters. But then the Paul Revere guy runs into a bar and immediately stops short. Sure, outside there's beer falling from the skies, but it can't compete with the brew available for sale in the bar, Miller Lite. So this implies, what, that Miller Lite is better than rainwater? Have you tasted Miller Lite? I suppose, strictly speaking, that you can get a bit better buzz from Miller Lite than from rainwater, but if the rainwater is beer? I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

A second commercial portrays another fantasy, but this one might be more on the part of Miller than the regular man on the street. Imagine, if you will, a world without beer labels. Yes, that's what Miller's conjured up here, in which all the beer labels on all the bottles mysteriously peel off and fly away. In such a world, the ad suggests, you wouldn't choose a beer based on its label, on its brand identity, but on its pure, unadulterated taste. And in this world, Miller Brewing Co. insists, the best tasting beer would be--Miller Genuine Draft. Have you tasted Miller Genuine Draft? I have, and in a blind taste test, while it might win out over rainwater, I'm afraid there would be a number of other beers in front of it on my list.

I saw a third commercial for the first time last night, and I find it even more mystifying. A newly married bride and groom get into their limo after the wedding. The bride admits to a little secret--she posed for pictures that are soon going to show up on the Internet. Well, no problem, the groom says. I guess love does stand for something, after all. But when the bride mentions something about her love of Miller Lite, the groom leaps from the car rather than give up his Bud Light. I guess that means he's a loser who can't help but follow the herd, rather than a free spirit who's willing to stand apart from the crowd, even if it is just for a minor rebellion such as Miller Lite, and that she's better off to stick to her guns with her own favorite brew, but I could just as easily see a Bud logo tacked on to the end as a Miller one. Couldn't it have been as believable as a paean to brand loyalty, that the groom loves his bride but he loves his beer more? I've got to admit that I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around this one.