Miller Lite, a Manly Beer

During the time when Lager beer was the only beer on the market, many people were concerned about their weight while drinking lagers due to the “full” sensation these beers generate.  As a result, light beer was created.  These light beers give the consumer less of a full feeling when consuming and a satisfaction from low calorie intake.  Since it’s creation, light beer has become favorable among consumers.  The term “light” has been huge in the success of such beers.  Miller Lite, the third highest selling beer in the United States, is one very popular light beer.  Although it is very successful, it only advertizes to half of the population, men.  Miller Lite appeals to men by using rapid pleasurable images and distinct colors in their advertising.

Commercials for Miller Lite typically have sexualized women images within rapid succession of the light beer being advertized.  These commercials are full of women, often sexual, as bartenders, significant others, and “Liteguards.”  In the new Miller Lite summer campaign, very sexualized women in bathing suits called Miller Liteguards tackle men and replace their “bad beer” with Miller Lite.  The women in these advertisements are in positions that benefit men; the bartenders serve beer and are eye candy for the consumer and the Liteguards tackle men to replace their bad beer with Miller Lite.  All of these scenes happen very quickly onscreen.  Camera angles or scenes last only for a couple of seconds, giving little time for the viewers to assess what is being played in front of them.  Sut Jhally notes, “Intensely pleasurable images, often sexual, are integrated into a flow of images” (Jhally, 225).  The rapid succession of visual pleasure requires a great deal of attention to catch, making it hard to look away, especially for men.  The speed-up commercials have abandoned rational responses with sexual images and emotional responses.  In Miller Lite advertising, the sexual images of the women onscreen lead to an emotional response towards them for men.

Color is a defining characteristic in the promotion of a product geared towards certain customers.  Miller Lite’s major advertising color is blue.  “Lite” in the Miller Lite logo is blue, and the logo itself is circled by blue ribbons.  The Miller Liteguards even wear blue bathing suits.  In the United States, blue is used to symbolize the male gender, whereas pink symbolizes the female gender.  Pat Kirkham and Alex Weller note, “An important factor in the different presentations of products for men and women is color, a distinction by which gender stereotypes are reinforced” (Kirkham and Weller, 269).  The dominant blue on all of the sexual women in the advertising and logo of Miller Lite symbolize that this beer is meant for men.

-Dan Ciszek

Works Cited

Jhally, Sut. "Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture." Print. Rpt. in Gender, Race, and Class In Media. Ed. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 255. Print.

Kirkham, Pat, and Alex Weller. "Cosmetics: A Clinique Case Study." Print. Rpt. in Gender, Race, and Class In Media. Ed. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 255. Print.

Miller Brewing Co. Advertisement. Miller Lite Commercial - Swim Briefs. Youtube. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9HeyXHhFS0>.

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Miller Lite Girls. Photograph. Girl Jobs That Require You to Party. Pleasureland. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. <http://www.redlightgirlsrule.com/?p=82>.

Photograph. Miller Brewing Co., 2011. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. <http://tastepoints.com/>.

Photograph. Miller Lite Rock Girls in Asheville NC, Beer City USA. AskAsheville. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. <http://blog.askasheville.com/asheville-beer/miller-lite-rock-girls-in-asheville-nc-beer-city-usa>.