Monday morning beer news
January 22nd, 2007 | Posted by Stan HieronymusStuff to talk about around the water cooler today:
- Deschutes Brewery is about to announce it will operate a pub in Portland.
- Miller is shelving its broadcast Man Law commercials.
Faced with an increasingly competitive light beer market, Miller Brewing Company is introducing new television ads that focus on the taste and heritage of its flagship brand. The spots will replace the popular Man Law campaign, which Miller said will continue on-line and may return to the airwaves opportunistically in the future.
The first wave of the new episodic advertising approach broke over the weekend. The “GHT” ads featured a guy preventing people from drinking light beers with “GHT” and instead giving them Miller Lite. The ads position Miller Lite as ‘the light beer that invented light beer’, the original light beer that’s always been brewed to be great.
Nothing like leaning on tradition.
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
GHT?
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:32 pm
It took me a moment, but I’m sure I would have understood it immediately had I seen the commercial.
That means you should be LiGHG, but LiTE.
Pretty clever.
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Um, yeah. Where’s the Meisterbrau Barrons when you need them?
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:22 am
Good point, Steve.
For those who don’t know, Miller didn’t “invent” light beer. Rheingold introduced the first lower-calorie beer in 1967, and Meister Brau began selling Meister Brau Lite shortly thereafter.
Miller bought Meister Brau in 1972. And the rest is history.
January 27th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Guess I had too much beer today. I had to go to this blog to understand these ads were a play off of LiGHT vs LiTE.
. . . and I am a marketer.
January 29th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
However you slice it, Miller Lite (GHT Free) was years ahead of Bud Light and Coors Light, the 2 major U.S. Players. P.S. …Um, Yeah… Who drives the Meisterbrau NASCAR?
Oh wait…there isn’t one.
January 29th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
So apparently I was not the only one who didn’t get GHT. But beyond that figured I’d add to the conversation that Miller may have bought the first lite beer but Bud was the first to realize that they should probably put their brand on it instead of being Lite by Miller.
January 31st, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Oh wow!…Miller seriously must have been taking too many samples of their “GHT”-free beers to think of that ad campaign. Seriously, guys…sober even, this commercial was a little tough.
February 4th, 2007 at 4:44 am
HOLY CRAP!! I am glad this was here.. I was lost with the GHT thing! its still stupid.. but I guess its cheaper then paying all those stars for the MAN LAW ” commersials. It had to cost them high 10 figures, if it wasnt more.
February 7th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Beer is not an American drink. Would love to find out when the Europeans started their lower alcohol beers, but LITE is a very modern term… American I believe.
February 7th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Doesn’t matter how you spell it… If you’re going to drink a beer , drink a real one and leave the light (lite) to the ladys!
February 8th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I dunno X-lynt, I used to agree but I do like Sam Adams Light… quite a bit. Although not very “light” in calories compared to some beers – but who cares?
February 8th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
GHT? GHT?
I didnt get the joke. Only now do I fully understand the stupidity of this campaign. Beer is a simple thing. A marketing effort like Miller’s is bound to confuse too many. GHT. Stupid. Man-law. Simple.
February 12th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Rheingold invented LITE beer as the Mega brewers make it. Checkout the Apr/May 1972 Journal of American Brewing Chemists. The Rheingold brewer wrote the first article for the “Industry” within weeks AB. Miller and Coors were trying to brew LITE beer.
February 20th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Just like light trucks, light cigerettes and light -ning bugs! Light beer is for the ladies, try to keep it real and drink beer, ice light is fine. But thats the only time light should be involved!
February 26th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
oh ok, thats what ght is. what a silly strategy. all light stuff is for ladies and fat self conscious men, man law number 1……
February 27th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Wow… this was the most rediculous campaign… I event sent a comment and asked in all sincerety, What is GHT….? (to the miller Website).
Well, I don’t feel like a fool because I didn’t get it. I think Miller Lite tastes more like water than any other lite beer I have ever tasted, and I would not have known any better had my friend not offered me one. So Here I go wasting time on something I was simply curious about, but now I know not to drink Miller Lite anymore, and not to try to figure out the rediculous commercials anymore (the man law thing failed in my world as well, but it was kinda funny… this GHT thing isn’t even funny.) Too Bad and So Sad.
These guys need to get a grip on something more than air and … well you get my drift.
March 1st, 2007 at 6:55 pm
only thing more like water is Mich Ultra…. that is water… drink beer not water.
March 4th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Yep, not such a great ad – but light beer is for those that LIKE light beer. Which is very funny to me. I’d make the assumption that many of you are refering to ‘real beer’ as their non-light counterparts.
To me – most domestic US Beers and even imports (Hieneken) taste like water…and in your argument – are for girls. This is silly. Because I like Belgian Ales or drinking Guiness doesn’t make you ‘less of a man’ for liking modern ‘watery’ beers. We just have different tastes.
Some people really like light beer.
And actually – since I drink darker (better in only my opinion) beers I think I’m a pretty good judge of ‘watery’ beers. Miller Lite is actually the most flavorful (which is why it continues to win accolades over the others even in German beer awards)
In fact I thought Miller’s ’see it’ ’smell it’ ‘taste it’ was great a few years back. Put a glass of Miller light on a counter and pour a glass of every other light beer on the market – the darkest is ML; and again more flavorful.
Some people love light beer. And there’s a reason Miller Lite keeps winning the World Beer Cup over, and over, and over.
March 6th, 2007 at 12:39 am
You know guys, I am a women, I don’t drink lite beer and I didn’t understand the add, but neither did you.
You sound like you should be in the man law commercials because obviously you don’t know the “ladies”.
March 6th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
What is GHT?
May 13th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I’m feeling really stupid now, but informed. So “ght” is NOT… some strange harmful ingredient, but just the last three letters of “light”, versus “lite”. Good grief, what a relief to finally know.
I almost want to drink a ligh… LITE beer now.
Almost.