Miller Lite Trolls Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl Ad

, Miller Lite Trolls Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl Ad

(Courtesy Molson Coors)

Pushing back on the idea that more taste for one extra calorie is worth the trade, Miller Lite is trolling Michelob Ultra during the Super Bowl.

Here’s the deal…

In the Big Beer world it’s all about light beer.  Bud Light, alone shipped 27.2 million barrels in 2019 and sales of the top three brands (all of them, incidentally, light or “lite” beers) exceeded 53 million, according to USA Today.

, Miller Lite Trolls Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl AdTraditionally the light beer battles involve Anheuser-Busch, home to Bud Light (#1) and Michelob Ultra (#5), and Molson Coors which produces Coors Light (#2) and Miller Lite (#3).

2019 saw a drop in market share for all those leading light beers with the exception of Michelob Ultra which positions itself as the beer for the active set.

Which explains why Miller Lite’s new Super Bowl campaign targets Michelob Ultra which saw its shipment rise by 15.9% in 2019, rather than Bud Light which saw its shipments drop by 7.3% over that same period.

Both beers champion their low calorie count. Michelob Ultra has 95 calories per can or bottle and Miller Lite 96 calories.

And it’s that one calorie difference that Miller Lite is having fun with in its latest campaign, a difference which according to Molson Coors “can be made up by simply typing a few characters on a keyboard.”

“Miller Lite wants to prove that a one-calorie difference shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Both beers are light beers and low calorie, but why should one extra calorie matter if it means more taste?” says Zach Paciorek, associate marketing manager for Miller Lite. “There’s no better way to show drinkers how easy it is to burn a single calorie than by typing a ridiculously long URL.”

So Miller Lite is asking consumers to burn that extra calorie by typing in an 836-character URL when Michelob Ultra’s ad airs during the big game Sunday for a chance to get a six-pack of beer on the them.

And because they know how you can get, Molson Coors is making it nearly impossible for consumers to cheat, publishing the URL in full-page advertisements in the New York Times, in its hometown Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the newspaper in Michelob Ultra’s backyard.

Miller Lite also will publish the URL in this social media post, but in a form that unfortunately can’t be copied and pasted.

“While ridiculous in length, we love the simplicity of it,” Paciorek said. “Type our 836-charcter URL during Ultra’s ad, burn the one extra calorie difference, and win some Miller Lite – a beer with more taste than Michelob Ultra.”

“As the original light beer, we’re always glad when a competitor gives us the chance to remind people of Miller Lite’s great taste with only 96 calories,” Paciorek added. “And for more taste, we think the extra calorie is worth it.”

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