30 x :01 > $3 million

I love the recent news about Miller High Life’s sales going up as a result of their 1 second ads.

It’s proof that while good ole’ traditional tv advertising may not be dead, smart, inventive tv advertising is alive and well. The big ad agencies can create all of the consumer validated packaged goods crap they want; I don’t think tv advertising will ever go away, primarily because of terrific thinking like this.

You’ve probably seen the Miller High Life 1-second ads, but if not, you should. They’re just plain fun. And extremely successful.

They didn’t get there by luck. They wouldn’t exist if not for the well-established, clever campaign starring the Miller High Life delivery guy that’s been running for a while. This is one of my favorites. It’s a wonderful, insightful commentary on sports and the corporate world, and it sells the product.



That’s a hard working ad.

So now they take those ads to the next level. The idea of 1 second ads is absurd, but the truth is, it’s more about the buzz vs. the ads themselves. Especially when the campaign is touted as a better way to spend money than the $3 million they would have had to spend to get national presence on the Super Bowl. It’s the publicity they were after, and publicity they got. Before and after the Super Bowl.

Oh, that and a whole lot of sales.

You can talk drinkability, and you can talk frost brewing and cold mountains, and I’m sure consumers told Bud and Coors that they want to hear about that stuff.

But it’s fresh, unexpected Ideas that connect people to brands and convince them to form relationships with brands. It’s hard for a consumer to articulate that. Luckily, it’s real easy to watch 1 second ads.