Miller Lite's latest campaign suggests the brand can help you (literally) slide out of awkward situations and forced fun into somewhere you're more comfortable.

The first of a series of new spots in a new campaign from DDB Chicago called "Beer Me" sees a young woman stiffly drinking tea with her boyfriend's stuffy and judgemental-looking parents. Suddenly, a can of Miller Lite on the table starts to slide towards her, and as she grabs it, she herself slides down the back of the sofa, through an underground tunnel out of the room and out to a campfire with her friends. Steve Ayson at MJZ directed the spot. 

A second ad in similar vein features a man at business conference looking horrified at the prospect of networking with grinnign salespeople in grey suits. The Miller Lite can drags him into a copier and he slides out and into a game of table tennis with a friend at a bar.

The campaign taps into people's longing to be with their friends again, particularly in a time of social distancing. The brand's last big push, in October 2019, had asked people to "unfollow" it on social media, but the pandemic made it time for a rethink, said a spokesman for the brand.

"The campaign we launched back in the fall of 2019, the Original Social Media, encouraged drinkers to put their phones down and be present in the moment with friends. When the pandemic hit, social media was the thing that was keeping all of us connected so we had to rethink how Miller Time was showing up in this new world. The new Beer Me campaign is intended to be fun, spark joy and evoke something our drinkers can relate to -- that feeling of wanting to get out of an awkward situation and be with your close friends. The campaign is simple, self-aware and honest and we hope it makes our consumers smile when they encounter it in real life.”

The spot will initially target sports fans, debuting during the March Madness Final Four this weekend and then airing in heavy rotation on ESPN's MLB and NBA channels, and across networks AMC, FX, Comedy Central, Bravo, E!, Adult Swim, Telemundo and Univision. It will also run on digital channels.