Miller Lite turns old sexist beer ads into fertilizer for Women’s History Month

Ilana Glazer explains the ‘Bad $#!T to Good $#!T’ campaign, dreamed up by Alma

Published On
Mar 07, 2023
Photo that reads "Bad $#!T to Good $#!T" with a can of Miller Lite and a bag full of hops

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The beer industry has a notorious history of sexist advertising—babes in bikinis and the like—but now Miller Lite is atoning with a campaign called “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” for Women’s History Month.

The campaign, from agency Alma, is fronted by producer, comedian and actor Ilana Glazer, who explains the concept in the video below. Essentially, Miller Lite is collecting old sexist print ads and posters, grinding them into worm food, using the worm food to make fertilizer, using the fertilizer to grow hops, and giving the hops to women brewers—who have long been critical to the industry—to brew more beer.

It’s a little convoluted, sure, but for a good cause.

 

“This Women’s History Month, Miller Lite wanted to recognize that without women, there would be no beer,” said Elizabeth Hitch, senior director of marketing for Miller Lite. “To honor this, we wanted to acknowledge the missteps in representation of women in beer advertising by cleaning up not just our $#!T, but the whole industry’s $#!T while benefiting the future of women and beer.”

Brewers have revisited vintage beer ads before for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. In 2019, Budweiser dredged up three of its own embarrassing ads from the Mad Men era and cleverly updated them with a modern take—then ran them side by side in major newspapers. Two years before that, Skol in Brazil hired women illustrators to remake the cringingly sexist ads it used to run.

The hops grown through the Miller Lite campaign will be donated to over 200 female brewers to make some 330,000 beers. The brand will also donate over five times the amount it spends to buy back the old ads to the Pink Boots Society, supporting in brewing education for women.

“I know women have been erased from building many industries from the ground up, and yet I was still surprised to learn they were among the first beer brewers in history,” said Glazer. “After years of treating women like objects, the industry has an opportunity to shed more light on just how powerful women's contribution has been. I'm inspired Miller Lite created the space for this reflection, and I’m proud to play a part in repping this step in the right direction. We really made some good $#!T together!”

Credits

Date
Mar 07, 2023
Client :
Molson Coors
Client :
Miller Lite
Agency :
Alma
CMO :
Michelle St. Jacques
Chief Marketing Officer :
Sofia Colucci
Senior Marketing Director :
Elizabeth Hitch
Associate Marketing Manager :
Kelsey Ott
Chief Creative Officer :
Ari Weiss
Co-President/Chief Creative Officer :
Alvar Sunol
VP Executive Creative Director :
Jorge Murillo
Executive Creative Director :
Christian Liu
Associate Creative Director :
Maia Swift
Associate Creative Director :
Luis Nunez
Associate Creative Director :
Martin De Ferrari
Associate Creative Director :
Vanessa Castaneda
Copywriter :
Raquel Chisholm
EVP Operations and Production :
Michelle Headley
Director of Production :
Yeyo Marquez
Sr. Producer :
Mimi Cossio
Producer :
Rudy Leschhorn
Sr. Business Manager :
Candy Cabrera
Director of Business Affairs :
Rosi Pratts
Group Account Director :
Karen Udler
Account Director :
Jose Hawayek
Account Supervisor :
Stephanie Albrecht
VP Digital Content & Experience Strategy :
Michael Sotelo
Team Lead Associate Content Creator :
Michelle Robles
Sr. Manager Content & Experience Strategy :
Rosaura Yapur
Strategy Director :
Mauricio Cadena
Associate Strategic Planning Director :
Felipe Diaz-Arango
Communications Manager :
Victoria Lutgring
Communications Coordinator :
Martha Castro
PR Agency :
ICF Next
Media Agency :
Connect
Social Agency :
Volt
Director :
Pete Marquis
Production Company :
Strike Anywhere

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