Miller Lite goes dark on timelines to prove ‘Miller Time’ is the OG social media
Before there was social media, there was beer at the bar with friends. In a new campaign, beer brand Miller Lite is staking a claim that ‘Miller Time’ was the ‘original social media’, shutting down its social feeds in support of the argument.
Miller Lite claims 'Miller Time' is the original social media
An artfully shot spot by DDB shows a man just about to walk out of his apartment. He looks through the peephole and sees a group of people waiting for him, so he sneaks out the back via his fire escape.
He hits the ground running as he sees what has now become a mob running after him. Along the way, several others are in similar situations, dodging their approaching gangs and evading their photographs. As the spot rolls along, we see selfie-obsessed people and social posters galore.
Finally, the hero arrives just outside his local bar, where there's a gang waiting for him to move. He has an idea to remove his shoes and throw them to the crowd, which is wearing similar footwear, and run to the bar.
As he joins the other two who had been chased, the action turns from black and white to color, from tense to happy as the text-over states: “A few friends are better than a few thousand followers. Here’s to the original social media.”
The first full new campaign for the brand under new chief marketing officer Michelle St. Jacques breaks tonight (22 October) during the World Series.
Offline, Miller Lite will be practicing what it preaches by rewarding consumers who “unfollow us to the bar” with free beer. Consumers who unfollow the brand’s Facebook and Instagram pages can receive free ‘Miller Time’.
Essentially, they just need to text a photo or screenshot to an SMS short code and include keyword ‘Unfollow'. The brand will then send them a link to upload a receipt from a Miller Lite purchase, so that Miller can credit their PayPal account.
Miller Lite itself will be going dark on social media, too, taking two weeks off from posting and also debuting a limited-edition “dark” version of its classic white can to mark the occasion.
