Miller Lite defends 'woke' advert saying 'women shouldn't have to mud-wrestle to sell beer'

Actress and comedian Ilana Glazer features in Miller Lite’s campaign attempting to make amends for its sexualising of women in beer adverts
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Miller Lite has defended a "pro-women" advert amid a conservative backlash, insisting there is nothing "controversial" about "saying women shouldn’t be forced to mud wrestle" to sell beer.

The beer brand released an advert celebrating Women’s History Month, in which the comedian Ilana Glazer condemned Miller and other beer brands' past use of scantily-clad women to sell their products.

The comedian highlighted some of the company's old posters and cardboard cutouts, saying: "It's time beer made it up to women."

Comedian Ilana Glazer explains in a Miller Lite campaign that the company is buying up old 'sexist' marketing materials and turning them into compost for female hops farmers
Comedian Ilana Glazer explains in a Miller Lite campaign that the company is buying up old 'sexist' marketing materials and turning them into compost for female hops farmers

Glazer, who starred in the comedy show Broad City, explained the beer brand was buying up old marketing materials to turn them into compost for female hops farmers.

Mission to clean up beer industry

"Miller Lite is on a mission to clean up not just their s--- but the whole beer industry's s---," she said.

The advert was released in March to little fanfare, but it has resurfaced after  the furore over its rival Bud Light's ad campaign with Dylan Mulvaney, a  transgender TikTok influencer .

The company saw its stock price plunge in the days after the Mulvaney backlash after a conservative-led boycott, with customers arguing the brand had lost touch with its audience.

Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a promotional video for Bud Light
Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a promotional video for Bud Light

Two Bud Light marketing executives were placed on leave as the brand attempted to repair the damage.

Emboldened by their success, conservative activists have now turned their fire on Miller Lite, despite its advert being released prior to Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney.

Clay Travis, a Conservative commentator, was among those to draw parallels between Miller Lite's March advert and Bud Light's.

"These companies are broken and have no idea who actually consumes their products," he said.

'Nothing remotely controversial'

A spokesman for Molson Coors, Miller Lite's parent company, has refused to back down, insisting there is nothing "controversial" about its advert.

"This video was about two things: worm poop and saying women shouldn’t be forced to mud wrestle in order to sell beer.

"Neither of these things should be remotely controversial and we hope beer drinkers can appreciate the humour (and ridiculousness) of this video from back in March," the spokesman told Fox.

Miller Lite boosted its sales by using scantily-clad models including Pamela Anderson and Sofia Vergara to front its adverts throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

They included a "Bikini Girls" series as well as a "Cat Fight" between Playboy models.

Meghan Markle promoted the brand

Meghan Markle is among the women to have featured in the campaigns. Ms Markle did not appear in a bikini, but in a tight-fitting sleeveless top as she served Miller Lite in a 2010 advert.

The beer brand moved away from its bikini adverts in 2006, when marketing executive Erv Frederick declared the company "wanted to move beyond that stereotype of men... [as] the lowest common denominator".

Its latest advert was spearheaded by an all-female team, Miller Lite said in a press release accompanying the video, aimed at boosting "the brand's work empowering women in beer".

Glazer signs off her commercial with a toast. "So here's to women, because without us, there would be no beer," she says.

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