If you’re looking for more words and are curious about my conversational tone, here are a few micro-essays I wrote on relatively recent campaigns.
DDB, Miller Lite, Alex Prager present: “Farewell, Work Holiday Parties”
Miller Lite has usually run more higher-brow campaigns than, say Coors Light. I can remember one fairly low-brow Miller Lite ad featuring two models inexplicably fighting and taking one another’s clothes off, but, for the most part, Miller Lite has been the brand of classier, more tasteful ads (when compared to other domestic macrobrews).
With that acknowledged, this latest ad campaign takes the “high-art as beer ad” to another level. Prestigious LA-based artist, Alex Prager, was approached by DDB/Miller Lite to create an installation of all the bad cliches one might find at a shoddy work/office holiday party. Prager came through spectacularly. The Miller Lite ad created is a revelation and provides hope that I may see more relationships made between brands and artists.
Especially in this more progressive, post-MeToo climate, it only makes sense and speaks to the fact that Miller Lite understands that society is changing. There are characteristics of the past that should be valued today (such as opting for real human interaction instead of spending too much time with tech, smartphones, apps, etc), but in regards to depictions of women and trying to capitalize off of stereotypical heteronormative sex appeal, I feel like Miller Lite has been trying to put those types of campaigns behind them as they collaborate with respected artists as well as portray themselves as a brand of authenticity.
ALDI – The Real Surprise of Christmas
This ad captures what I feel most people believe, but rarely exhibit in their consumer behavior. Most folks know it’s crazy to spend x amount on readily available goods (in this case food), but we all do. We all spend a little extra on particular products for whatever reason.
If you couldn’t tell by the playful piano and plucked violin score, this is a French ad. That said, there are ALDIs in the U.S. and they definitely have a reputation for being very cheap and economical supermarkets. This almost certainly seems to be an ad attacking “upscale” supermarkets like Whole Foods. Spending excessively at Whole Foods may make one feel good (for whatever reason), but in regards to certain products, people may be able to save a good amount of money without losing any quality at ALDI.
As someone who is very happy with H-E-B and who has only been inside an ALDI maybe four times in my life, I still very much agree with the sentiment of this ad and truly hope I apply it to my life and my purchasing behavior on a more frequent basis. Because I’m associating this train of thought with ALDI, I am actually a little more motivated to shop there whenever I may be in an ALDI neighborhood.
There aren’t any of suggestions that I may add or provide because I feel this ad precisely makes their intended point, and I imagine it achieves all of their goals.
Glenlivet Single Malt Whiskey – Original Since 1824
I enjoy drinking liquor. Scotch, bourbon, Irish whisky, Canadian whiskey, American whiskey, tequila, sotol, mezcal… you name it, I’ll give most of it a shot (literally). That stated, I pay pretty close attention to liquor ads (and all booze ads honestly).
Because of certain restrictions, booze ads are not allowed to visually and explicitly depict the actual consumption of their product. This adds a particularly challenging wrinkle to all ads across the industry. Booze campaigns, arguably more than most products, are only allowed to build an attitude and personality surrounding a specific brand/product line. There’s rarely any talk or description of taste or product performance.
This particular ad, with pricey production costs, projects what many liquor brands claim to be: a maverick, a trailblazer, an original. “We have a tradition… of breaking traditions” the ad claims. I can’t disagree, except that it depicts continually serving booze during America’s Prohibition Era, yet, of course a distillery in Scotland would continue distilling booze regardless of what laws are passed in the U.S.
The ad builds on its tradition-smashing claim by portraying women of different eras and environments confidently striding through various male-dominated rooms while purposely holding their Glenlivet on the rocks in a rocks glass. Who are these women? Who are these women supposed to represent? That, I suppose, doesn’t matter. What does matter is that there is an attractive human who is portrayed to be a rule breaker of some sort holding what appears to be a delicious glass with a perfect proportion of tasty brown liquor to ice while accomplishing what they want (which in this ad concludes with that person getting their hands on a Glenlivet bottle).
Regardless of whatever is sensible, rational, or agreeable with this ad, it comes off as an overpriced, cliched liquor ad that I must’ve seen four dozen times before. But you know what? I actually would like a scotch right now. I’m not sure if that says more about me than the advertisement, but it is to say that this liquor ad trope is effective with a very specific drinking demographic.
If I had any recommendation at all, especially if they were to actually connect with women who resonate with the past, is to ask the historians and biographers of actual women who historically resonate. Or, maybe they don’t have to historically resonate, maybe they were someone who lived remarkably normal life, but they concluded each day with Glenlivet neat while they sat by the fire.
Perhaps Clara Barton, founder of The Red Cross, preferred Glenlivet to all other intoxicating beverages? If real-life examples like that won’t work, I guess they can continue their parade of models marching through historically-male-dominated arenas and I won’t mind.
