Beer Wars: Miller Lite goes medieval on Bud Light

Marsellus Wallace would be proud.

The #corntroversy between Bud Light and Miller Lite, which began on the Super Bowl, has now turned into a Super Brawl.

MillerCoors has taken the brewing battle with Bud Light to the next level as the brand filed a lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch on Thursday.

The suit calls Bud Light’s ads about corn syrup use, “false” and “misleading.”

“Anheuser-Busch is fearmongering over a common beer ingredient it uses in many of its own beers, as a fermentation aid that is not even present in the final product,” MillerCoor said in a statement. “This deliberate deception is bad for the entire beer category. We are showing the world the truth.”

MillerCoors went onto call the campaign a “marketing ploy” which is not working, pointing to a decline in sales for Bud Light. Adam Collins, vice president of communications for MillerCoors, said, “it’s (the corn syrup) really used only as a fermentation, which is the irony of all ironies, is that it’s not actually in the final product that you drink.”

 
New spots go after “Dilly, Dilly”
The brewer has also launched two new lighthearted spots that joust the “Dilly Dilly” fantasy world Bud Light has inhabited for the better part of a year.

The new :30- and :15-second spots, created by AOR DDB Chicago, will air on TV, digital and social channels starting Thursday during March Madness

Set in a fictitious medieval kingdom, but from the other side the camera, the spots unveil the fantasy and reality realms, with cameras rolling after the director’s cut. Each of the spots concludes with the actors and crew on the Bud Light set heading back to a hospitality tent where they pass over Bud Light in favor of a post-wrap Miller Lite.

Directed by Somesuch’s Daniel Wolfe, the first spot, called “Aftermath,” picks up where the Bud Light/HBO spot left off with a dragon scorching the land. We see an overhead shot of a medieval knight and fellow villagers lying in a scorched field, flames still burning around them.

An off-camera female director yells “Cut!” as crew move into the screen and snatch a drone shooting the scene. The knight, playing dead, rises, removes his helmet, dons eyeglasses and tousles his hair before retiring with fellow actors and crew to a tent to relax.

The actor playing the knight walks by a refrigerator stocked with Bud Light to reach inside another filled with cans of Miller Lite. As he cracks one open, he exchanges pleasantries with the director and another staffer, who also open Miller Lites.

“In the real world more taste is what matters,” flashes on the screen. “More taste and half the carbs of Bud Light.” Watch below:

ALSO READ: MillerCoors taps Michelle St. Jacques as new CMO

In ‘Snow,’ the snow-covered set where Bud Light tried to return the corn syrup vats is focused on, with two guys in stockades trying to drink Bud Lights that are out of their reach. Again, the director yells cut and the crew grabs Miller Lite.

“We all love a good fantasy, but people drink beer in the real world. And in the real world, more taste is what matters,” says Anup Shah, vice president of the Miller Family of brands.

“So while Anheuser-Busch is living in a fantasy world, we’re focused on making sure people here in the real world know Miller Lite has more taste, fewer calories and half the carbs of Bud Light,” he says.

 
Credits
Client: MillerCoors
   CMO: Michelle St. Jacques
   Vice President – Miller Family of Brands Portfolio: Anup Shah
   Senior Marketing Manager: Courtney Bryant

Color: Framestore London
   Colorist – London: Simon Bourne
   Senior Color Producer: Chris Anthony

And that concludes this week’s edition of… imagine this spoken as a Monster Truck competition announcer… BEER WARS!

Source: DDB Chicago