MILLER BREWING CO. | Fly | 1998
An Experiment Called "An Ad About Ads" / Miller Brewing "Fly"
This is one entry from the "Dick" series that the legendary Minneapolis agency Fallon McElligott made for Miller Lite in 1998. It's framed as the work of a fictional creative director named "Dick," turning the ad itself into the joke. For its time, this must have been a pretty bold move.
The problem
In the late 1990s, Miller Lite was losing ground to Bud Light in the light beer market. "Tastes Great, Less Filling," the tagline that had carried the brand for years, had lost its freshness, and the brand needed to feel young again.
The insight
Fallon's answer was "an ad about ads" — self-referential, surreal, postmodern. Just as Nike had gotten people talking about its message, Miller Lite set out to get people talking about the advertising itself. It was divisive, but at the very least, it stuck in people's minds.
The idea
"Fly," part of the "Dick" series, was built around the premise that it was made by a fictional creative director named Dick. At the start or end of each commercial, a photo of Dick's face would appear, declaring "This is Dick's work." The content was deliberately surreal and had almost nothing to do with the product. It was a meta structure that poked fun at all the usual conventions of advertising.
What happened
Entertainment Weekly handed it the dubious honor of "most self-conscious postmodern ad." On the other hand, it won best of show at a Minnesota advertising award. Sales recovered gradually, though the campaign was also criticized for low brand recall.
Afterthought
Watching it now, you still think, "wait, what is this?" But that's exactly what makes it good. An ad laughing at ads. You can feel the spirit of an era that allowed for this kind of confidence and playfulness. I wonder how you'd even explain something like this to a client today — but maybe that's exactly why it had to be Fallon McElligott.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 1998
