October 12, 2005

New Miller Beer Ads Are Bittersweet

We didn't need any new gussied-up beer ads to tell you that Miller High Life is the champagne of beers. We've been drinking it for years, savoring it more for the low price than for the taste. That's why we reported on High Life's new ad campaign last month with some trepidation...we had a feeling that it was going to focus a little too much attention on our undiscovered gem.

It turns out we were right...according to the Slate ad report card, people are digging the new campaign.

This spot is laughably formulaic. Its recipe for nostalgia includes a basket of familiar ingredients. 1) The sequence of iconic snapshots. 2) The wildly overused marimba theme from the film True Romance (which is itself derived from an older composition featured in Badlands). 3) The medley of vague, airy musings about savoring "the moments."

This voice-over script is a tribute to inanity. "These are the moments that matter. Sometimes I don't know what will come next. But then it does. Like it always does. It's you. Your life is made up of a history of moments. It's a scrapbook packed with the photos of your life." And on, and on.

But amazingly, I think the ad works. Simply because it looks like no other beer ad that's out right now.

The thing that made us most nervous was Slate's claim that "according to an industry expert I spoke with, is almost certainly to start charging more per case again for Miller High Life (or 'increase the pricing power,' as they say)." First it happened with PBR, now with the champagne of beers. If you need us, we'll be stocking up on the high life while we can still afford it.

You can download the TV ad spots at MillerHighLife.com, under "See My TV Moments."

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