Miller Lite has become embroiled in controversy after a 15-second advertisement resurfaced online. The ad, which was originally released in March, features female comedian Ilana Glazer addressing the beer industry’s historic mistreatment of women and claiming that women were the first to brew beer.
“Look at this s(h)it. Wild. It’s time beer made it up to women, so today Miller Lite is on a mission to clean up not just their shi(t), but the whole beer industry’s shi(t). Miller Lite has been scouring the internet for all this shi(t) and buying it back so that they can turn it into good shi(t) for women brewers,” Glazer said in the ad.
Miller Lite’s campaign promised to donate fertilizer to female brewers so they could grow hops, the flowers used as a bittering and stability agent in beer. Instructing customers to “appreciate the humor” in the ad, the beer brand hoped to highlight past campaigns that centered around objectifying women.
The backlash follows Bud Light’s recent condemnation over a custom beer can sent to Dylan Mulvaney, a self-described transgender social media influencer. Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, suffered a drop in sales after partnering with Mulvaney, who has documented his gender transition on social media. Conservative groups criticized the promotion, resulting in Anheuser-Busch providing vague apologies and downplaying the extent of the campaign in an attempt to win back customers who had shunned the brand.
Miller Lite’s statement on the matter explained that the advertisement was not meant to be controversial, saying “This video was about two things: worm poop and saying women shouldn’t be forced to mud wrestle in order to sell beer.” The statement, given by Canadian-American conglomerate Molson Coors, which owns Miller Lite, urged beer enthusiasts not to take the ad seriously.
