Miller Lite

"Everything You Always Wanted in a Beer and Less" and "Tastes Great, Less Filling" remain among the most brilliant taglines in advertising history. For 15 years beginning in 1973, Miller Beer's brand extension, Miller Lite, delivered an extraordinary advertising campaign that relied on retired athletes to promote its low-calorie beer.

The campaign featured numerous athletes as regular beer-drinking guys. Miller used, among others, Tommy Heinsohn, Bubba Smith, Dick Butkus, Larry Csonka, Carlos Palomino, and Billy Martin.

Another Miller Lite campaign, one featuring legendary baseball personality Bob Uecker, was equally memorable. "I must be in the front row," crowed Uecker in one TV spot, to an usher at Yankee Stadium. Instead, Uecker, who assumed he would be given a preferred seat because he thought everyone remembered him from his playing days, was taken to a seat in the farthest reaches of the ballpark, a section still referred to by fans as "Uecker seats." Coincidentally, Uecker now announces for the Milwaukee Brewers, the National League team that now plays in Miller Park.

Miller successfully linked its product to its primary consumer the weekend warrior and avid sports fan who enjoyed a touch of irreverence. The campaign was also advantaged because it was able to leverage sports' long-standing and historical relationship with the breweries, one dating back more than a century. These ads worked not only because they simultaneously communicated multiple product attributes to the company's core consumer, but also because they did so in a tone these targeted consumers welcomed.