Dive Brief:
- Miller Lite is pledging to turn past sexist beer ads into fertilizer as part of a campaign running around Women’s History Month, according to a press release.
- The Molson Coors brand has been busy buying up old marketing materials off the internet with the aim of converting them into compost that can be used to make fertilizer. The end product will be donated to women hops farmers, while the hops grown from the recycled materials will be sent to women brewers.
- To spread word of the “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” initiative, Miller Lite partnered with comedian Ilana Glazer, who explains the concept behind the campaign in a new video. Miller Lite joins other beer marketers in reckoning with prior marketing strategies that have largely ignored or objectified women.
Dive Insight:
Miller Lite is wedding a few different purpose marketing tactics together for Women’s History Month. “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” promotes sustainability, using outdated advertisements to create material that can be used in the brewing process. At the same time, the brand is offering a mea culpa for the beer category’s sexist streak while supporting women brewers and farmers who actually work in the business.
While the campaign touches on serious social issues, “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” carries a humorous tone, as evidenced by its name and the presence of Glazer, who many consumers might know from “Broad City.” In a new video, the comedian details women’s role in the brewing process stretching back to early human civilization. She then expresses disgust that this heritage was paid “homage” in the form of ads depicting bikini-clad women and other forms of misogyny, with vintage displays from Miller Lite front and center.
Miller Lite intends for “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” to not only address its past missteps, but also those of the whole beer industry. To that effect, the brand has spent the past several months buying up ads off the internet for composting that will eventually be used to grow over 1,000 pounds of hops. The company will donate over five times the amount it spends on the project to Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit benefiting women in brewing.
“Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” was handled internally by an all-women leadership team, per the press release. Parent company Molson Coors’ marketing for the past several years has been overseen by Michelle St. Jacques, who earlier this month was promoted from CMO to a newly created chief commercial officer position.
The effort timed for Women’s History Month builds on other Miller Lite platforms that have attempted to better recognize women’s place in beer history. Last year, the light beer marketer released limited-edition cans honoring Mary Lisle, America’s first documented woman brewer.
Rivals have taken a similar approach to Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, with “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” strongly echoing a campaign from AB InBev. In 2019, Budweiser reimagined patronizing ads from the ‘50s and ‘60s to portray women in a more positive, independent light. The print placements were designed with women illustrators and in partnership with the marketing industry collective #SeeHer.
