Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1591: Land Of Sunshine

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Friday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1954. Starting with the tagline “Traditionally the Finest,” the ad equates Florida with vacationers and the state’s fame as “a center of hospitality.” And this is seventeen years before Walt Disney World opened and transformed the state, so I’m not so sure about that claim. I remember a driving vacation my family took when I was fourteen (in 1973) from Pennsylvania to the Sunshine state and we didn’t even consider going; we drove right on past to Miami and the Keys. At any rate, I have a hard time thinking of Florida as an “enchanted land.” Though to be fair, beer-wise, things are a lot better there now than went I flew there once a month when BevMo opened a couple of stores in south Florida thanks to Cigar City and other new breweries.

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Beer In Ads #1552: Enjoy Life With Miller High Life

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Monday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1963. The ad is fairly simple, just a glass of beer and a half-emptied bottle of High Life next to it, with a plate of food behind it, and slightly out of focus. Is that lobster? It feels like the ad may have been cut off, like there should be more below the headline, but maybe not, it was done in the minimalist 1960s.

Miller-1963

Beer In Ads #1462: Enjoy Life

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Tuesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1961. “Enjoy Life with Miller High Life.” Certainly the man is enjoying his, he gets the rocking chair and a book, while the little woman sits at his feet peeling carrots. I guess she shouldn’t complain, he did allow her to have a beer, too.

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Beer In Ads #1453: In Football, We Went Head To Head

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Super Sunday’s ad is for Miller Lite, from 1981. Featuring a number of former football players, including Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and Billy Kilmer, at a bar claiming that “In Football, We Went Head To Head. But When It Comes To Lite Beer, We See Eye To Eye.” I’m not sure that will happen anytime soon for either the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots, especially after the brawl that erupted in the very last seconds of this year’s Super Bowl earlier tonight.

Miller-Lite-1981

Beer In Ads #1447: Great Ballplayers Drink Lite

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Monday’s ad is Miller Lite, from 1982. Today is also the birthday of Mr. Baseball, Bob Uecker, who arguably was at least partially responsible for the success of lower-calorie diet beers with his wildly successful ads for the beer in the 1980s. It was a marvel of modern advertising and I’m still amazed to this day that it worked in convincing people to drink an even more watered-down version of the macro lagers of the day. But Uecker was certainly great in the ads, and I loved him in the “Major League” movies, too.

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Beer In Ads #1418: There’s Only One Favorite

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Sunday’s holiday ad is for Miller High Life, from 1950. In the days after Christmas, with all of your presents laid out, having been played with or used, one apparently emerges as the favorite. Just like “The Highlander,” I guess “there can be only one.” This guy (I’m presuming it was a guy) did pretty well. He appears to have received a rifle (or rifle case), a thermos, bowling ball, fishing basket, along with a rod and reel, binoculars, camera, books, a barometer and a set of golf clubs. But the ad would have us believe it was the Miller High Life that emerged as the favorite beer.

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Beer In Ads #1345: Miller’s Mondrian

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Thursday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from the 1950s. Miller did a series of these ads with sparse, minimalist decoration. In this one, it looks like the wall at the back was designed by Piet Mondrian, the Dutch modern artist. It sure looks like it’s going to be a great party, especially once someone picks up that acoustic guitar leaning against the staircase, next to some floor pillows, and starts jamming.

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