put the power bill on old man winter's tab

happy thanksturkey

Sharpen the knives. Bake your own. Maybe some Champale... #3years #thanks

miller time -the beginning

1971 marked the arrival of "Miller Time", and youtuber Oldtimesportsfan has found a motherload of late 70's early 80's Miller High Life ads that read like Richard Scarry's "What Do People Do All Day" through a sunset-soaked beer glass. Pioneering the advertising hook of "Miller Time" these ads focus on the end of the work day and a celebratory beer for a job well done. Wait, Circus Operators and Surfers too? Not many women in Miller time though, unless as friendly barmaids or wives...

It's a world of flannels and trucker caps, down vests and denim shirts not cruises, ballgames or picnics. #wheelhouse. The little snippets of tv before or at the end of the ads are a nice touch. If you've got the time, we've got the beer... Read the below for a little background on how this marketing change happened.

During much of the 1950s and '60s, advertising agencies that handled beer accounts were saddled with a unique dilemma. The average beer drinker (the guy who was unflatteringly dubbed "Joe Six-Pack" by beer marketers), perceived little difference between one domestic brand of beer and another...

Three days in January 1971 changed all that. Beer distributors from around the country converged on Boca Raton, FL, for Miller Brewing Co.'s national sales meeting. The focal point of the gathering was Miller's launch of a nationwide advertising campaign centered on the slogan, "If you've got the time, we've got the beer." A new genre of beer commercial was about to be born.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris had just acquired full ownership of Miller Brewing during the previous year. The company had big plans for Miller, hoping to apply the same advertising strategies to the beer industry that it had used to propel Marlboro cigarettes to the top position within the tobacco industry. (The company even test-marketed "Marlboro Beer" but ultimately shelved it.)

Television, of course, would be Miller's primary means of assault. TV spots for Miller High Life bore a strikingly similar look and feel to Philip Morris' venerable Marlboro Man commercials. The new ads invariably depicted tough and rugged he-men drinking Miller Beer--not because they enjoyed its delicate balance of flavors, not because they fancied the easy-to-open bottle, but because they worked hard all day and, dammit, now it was Miller Time.
-via BeerHistory

After this period came the neon "Miller time" campaign, then the "Made the American way" campaign; not as focused imho but no doubt I'll post them up one day being a completist.

circle of tools -lost miller high life ad

Early Christmas. Found this and the below and another High Life ad from the famous Errol Morris series... they are not mentioned on his site. The above is good.

no slop -lost miller high life ad

the boat -and more

If I can't drive that 16-penny nail in three strokes I'll quit right now, or
The idiosyncrasies that made Miller Brewing Company's High Life Man campaign stand out

You know them, you may be air-quotes over them, hell you may even hate them. I'm frankly still in awe of the Miller High Life ads directed by Errol Morris (art direction by Portland OR's Wieden & Kennedy). I am not a paid expert on the matter but will reveal that my 1995 M.A. thesis was titled "Enlightened Working Class Images in American Film" and I enjoy looking at these things academically. When I told my ma-in-law the thesis title she said, "Now it all makes sense," -the obsessing over new and vintage workwear or photo archives, quoting from the Dictionary of American Regional English, hunting through thrift stores in rural areas... etc.

Have only ever found a few articles that dealt w/ the Morris/MHL ads in any meaningful way; from the filmmaking decisions to voiceover to copy, The Boat has alot going on. Found some great background info as below;

Better reacquaint yourself with the High Life, soldier, before someone tries to take away your Miller Time. This last line, in particular, spoken in the register of a military commander, invokes the sense of discipline required to restore an appropriate masculinity. While that discipline must be a self-discipline, its urgency is underscored by the panoptic gaze of the neighbor whose perspective dominates the spot. That choice of perspective was deliberate...
-via Lair 2007

Morris originally conceived of close-ups of tires scraping the curb and the trailer hitch jackknifing. "But then I looked across the street," Morris said, "and thought we should just show the whole thing from the other guy's point of view." This view included a mock gaslight lamppost, which filled about a third of the frame as a quintessential suburban symbol. Finally, three cameras, each with different film (35-mm, 16-mm, and Super 8), shot the spot. Wieden & Kennedy decided to use the Super 8 footage, filmed by Morris himself, because it captured the vintage "1950s John Birch Society" atmosphere that the agency wanted, according to Williams [Wieden & Kennedy art director Jeff Williams, who also stood in as the man on the lawn].

...The entire campaign was "appealing to that masculine sensibility, the way men are always imparting undue significance to whatever it is we're doing, like a guy saying if I can't drive that 16-penny nail in three strokes I'll quit right now," Kling [Wieden & Kennedy copywriter Jeff Kling, btw great stuff. -ed] explained. He added, "It's like it's a matter of pride, as if the very fabric of our democracy is being woven here with the shifting gears of backing up a trailer."
- via JiffyNotes

Sure, but aren't these ads simply ironic homages to a defunct sort of masculinity? The better ads of the (absurdly prolific) series don't rely on explicit maleness [or xenophobia -ed.] and the copy verges on poetry.




In the final analysis it is still the High Life MAN though. Daniel Lair (in Leisure, Work, and Manliness: Masculinity-in-Decline and the Miller “High Life Man”) has some pithy observations about the challenges to masculinity (and the way those challenges are framed) in the campaign;

Together with voiceover man Doug Jeffers – whose deep, hyper-masculine voice is almost certainly the singly most important element contributing to the success of the campaign (Quigley, 1999) – this team [Wieden & Kennedy team of art director Jeff Williams, copywriter Jeff Kling, and producer Jeff Selis] maintained a stylistic consistency which allowed the ads to hang together in what Morris described as a “mini-movie” (in Middlekauff, 2000, para. 9). Several stylistic elements combine to provide this consistency. First, all of the spots are shot from visually-jarring camera angles not typically seen in mainstream media: shots almost never depict a whole man, only parts, leaving audiences with an incomplete sense of who the men are and depicted in a manner that suggests that the High Life Men of the commercials could be any man.

...The implication of leisure, however, is cemented in the themes addressed by the advertisements: barbequing, yard work, recreational equipment, and fishing, to name just a few. These leisure time pursuits are frequently framed as challenges, from repairing a refrigerator with duct tape to finding ways to maximize free time... Here, the leisure time challenges highlighted may be more mundane than the often extreme challenges faced by the men of more “traditional” beer commercials, but they are challenges nonetheless. In addressing issues of leisure, the campaign implicitly addresses issues of work, as well. Here again, the cultural legacy of Miller’s once-prominent status plays a prominent role: “Miller Time” was (and is) undeniably after work, but is also framed in many respects as a reward for work.

...Here, the High Life ads transform the generic convention of challenges at work and leisure by framing the challenge that men face not as a specific obstacle to overcome – such as a raging stream or an attractive woman – but rather as a more general cultural malaise that must be resisted. The second way that the High Life ads transform the convention of challenge is through their suggestion as to how such challenges should be managed. The challenge posed by the campaign is not one to be won or lost through skill or brawn. Instead, such challenges can only be met with an inner strength that can be found in re-asserting a more traditional masculinity through living the High Life.

The ironic stance of the campaign distances itself from its overt message, instead functioning as a critique of the shallow nature of contemporary masculinity. The High Life Man thus opens a discursive space from which to critique the masculinity of most beer advertising: a masculinity which is vain, insecure, obsessed with demonstrating an extrinsically-oriented sense of superiority in overcoming challenges, and inevitably turns women into objects of sexual conquest. The High Life Man is able to subtly suggest that these manifestations of masculinity are themselves in part responsible for the crisis of masculinity; that the men of traditional beer advertising, by participating in a surface masculinity rather than a “true” manliness, are not “doing their part.”

* * * * * *One more... we have an ongoing joke at home that someone always thinks up a chore to do that involves roofs/ladders/axes or even better all 3 -usually around cocktail hour. The response to that idea goes something like "better have a few more drinks first..."

miller -from 1909

via Cobb11

america -i'm a part of you

Not sure if real, but love these takes. Directed by Andrew George according to youtube. The other one, even better probably.

i want that ice chest

common sense gets a redesign

Details at The Dieline.

the only way to go

make it right

distinctive in taste

1959/60/61 campaign. Giving Commander Schweppes a run for his money. Had never seen these before and tough to find good shots; all via eBay. Illustrations by John McCormack.

old original -2

Related; Old Original -1

not even close

I thought I was on the RSS for MHL changes... guess not. Nice retro can re-introduced recently.

The sterling silver belt buckle; it is tough to find the plain versions, that is, without the scored lines. Not a fan of those atall. Pops gave this to me on my 16th bday - perfect coming of age gift. It is either ShreveC&L or Brooks... Think it is Shreve. It tripped the UK tax man's meter though... had to pay VAT (that is 17%) when this arrived in Scotland. Came w/ a brown and a black belt. Still fits.

The Friday Belt series by The Trad is genius in my book. To the young guns; you know "a belt" is a euphamism for a drink right?? Anyhow, complete rip here. Not even close...

church key

The below is direct from the JustForOpeners site, a rabbit hole of information for bottle opener collectors. #daywrecker.

* * * * *
From the January 1980 JFO Newsletter (by Don Bull):

But then I had an explanation from - where else? - Milwaukee, the beer capital of the world. It seems so authentic that all other theories may now be put aside. For one thing, Mr. J. R. Oberhofer, an old-time brewery worker, pointed out that the expression church key is much older than the device that leaves a triangular hole in beer cans. Indeed, it goes back to early days of the brewing business, when beer was first dispensed in bottles.

"The expression church key is old in the brewing business," he wrote. "I worked in a brewery for about 35 years and everybody carried a bottle opener or church key, perhaps so called because it looked like the top end of the kind of heavy ornate key used to unlock church doors."

"I am enclosing an old relic that is about 50 years old. It's made of cast iron and from its weight and appearance, you can see its resemblance to a church door key. With the coming of cans in the brewing business, the bottle opener gave way to the can opener that makes the triangular marks - but the name church key was simply transferred to the new device."

Mr. Oberhofer actually did send the cast iron bottle opener, and the evidence seems to me entirely persuasive. Thanks to him for settling a question that has puzzled me for many a year." (Editor's note from Don Bull) Thank you William and Mary Morris... I assume the reference is to a D Cast Iron Cap Lifter. Does anyone have any other theories on the origin of the term "Church Key"?

From the October 1984 JFO Newsletter, Research by Joe Young our "Tin Can Opener Man" about Mr. J. R. Oberhofer is shared with us: Mr. Oberhofer, Sr. started at the A. Gettelman Brewing Company and returned there after Prohibition. He retired from Miller Brewing Company about 20 years ago [now meaning 1960's -ed.]. Gettelman was purchased by Miller in 1961. Mr. Oberhofer was a truck driver, and in later years, worked in the garage.

Circa 1900s Cast Iron Openers
Styles cited in the above article
D-1-21 Valley Brew / Stockton
D-5-28 Budweiser
D-3-23 Vals Favorite (Val Blatz Brewing Co)

innovations

I think these were real... from Saatchi, 2009. Further reading.

unused commercial

Skaters pulling powerslides while crushing tallboys. Can't imagine why Miller/the network didn't go for it... Not 100% this is really an old spec presentation for a High Life commercial, but worth watching once.

fried florentine -dinner in ninety seconds

Love having breakfast for dinner. Fried eggs (any kind of eggs really) and garlicky spinach.

Waiter story; I was working a brunch in London (this is just after Pulp Fiction came out) explaining all the options, eggs benedict (poached eggs with hollandaise), eggs florentine (poached eggs with spinach), eggs royale...

The gent cuts me off, "what is eggs royale?"
His lady jumps in w/o missing a beat, "with ChEesE!" Class.

to auld acquaintance

And there is a hand my trusty friend.
And give us a hand of thine.
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.