The Snarky Way Miller64's New Ad Takes Jabs At Bud Light Next
Bud Light has been hoping that fans will "zero" in on its new zero-carb, low-calorie light beer called Bud Light Next, the brand's attempt to lure in Gen Z consumers who prefer hard seltzer. The brand's 2022 Super Bowl commercial even offers fans the chance to win $10,000 from Bud Light if they upload photos of zeros in the wild using the #SpotAZero hashtag. Another beer brand, however, wants consumers to focus on a bigger number on the Bud Light Next can: 80.
In a playfully antagonistic advertising campaign launched just in time for the Super Bowl, Miller is pointing out that its "OG extra light beer," Miller64, has only 64 calories, as opposed to Bud Light Next's 80 calories (via PR Newswire). The commercial, available on YouTube, taps University of Virginia mathematics professor Dr. Ken Ono to settle a math problem: "Which number is smaller — 80 or 64?" The ad launches into Dr. Ono's credentials for a minute before he exasperatedly answers, "64." Miller has set the scene for an all-out beer brand rivalry, but it didn't stop at just a single snarky ad.
Miller has launched a calorie-measuring competition
While Miller's commercial nailed home the fact that Miller64 has fewer calories than Bud Light Next, the brand added insult to injury with yet another arm of its advertising campaign: a promotional website containing a quiz that asks users if 80 or 64 is the smaller number. If you click on the number 64, you get a correct response, reading, "According to world-renowned mathematician Ken Ono, 80 minus 64 equals 16, which is a number larger than zero, effectively proving that 80 is larger than 64 and therefore 64 is less than 80." The correct answer also leads you to a link to enter a giveaway for some free beer in the form of a $7.50 gift card.
If you instead click 80, you get a different explanation from Dr. Ono with the additional message, "Your answer is mathematically incorrect and you are not eligible to receive beer as compensation." Miller looks to be playing hardball with this new promotion, and now it looks like the ball is in Bud Light's court.