Miller Lite’s NFL new season marketing campaign saw the beer brand take on illegal football streaming by creating a ‘Cantenna’ for cord-cutters to try and stop fans from relying on shady Russian sites for their Sunday football viewing.
Working with agency DDB Chicago, Miller Lite created Cantenna: a genuine (albeit somewhat daft) can of Miller Lite that comes complete with a built-in digital TV antenna so fans can watch free football with friends anytime.
To launch this deliberately ridiculous product, on the first Sunday night of the NFL season, the marketing team flooded Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook groups – places where many people find illegal streams – with links to the beer brand’s own fake streaming sites.
Oddly, these fake streaming sites initially make fans think they’ve found an illegal way to watch football, but are essentially built around a power ballad/country rock video.
The video actually starts with a local attorney ad misdirect, complete with fake internet buffering, before launching into a ‘Sunday Night Football’ musical opener – a familiar trope of game night – offering viewers a cautionary tale about the terrible consequences of getting mixed up in sketchy pirate streams (such as identity theft, prison sentences and warm beer).
Before ending on the solution to everyone’s problem, the Cantenna – which is just a phone call away on 877-CANTENNA.
The campaign was created by a tem at agency DDB Chicago which included Global Chief Creative Officer Ari Weiss, Executive Creative Director Ben Wolan, VP & Creative Director Alejandro Juli, Creative Director Nathaniel Lawlor, Chief Production Officer Diane Jackson, Executive Producer Matt Blitz, Senior Producer Adam Batista, Business Affairs Manager Jillian English, SVP & Group Account Director Kiska Howell, Account Director Katelyn Ledford and Account Supervisor Oliver Glenn.
The lead video was helmed by Smuggler’s Tony Yacenda (an avid football fan who also helmed Netflix series American Vandal) with EPs Patrick Milling-Smith, Brian Carmody and Sue Yeon Ahn and Producer Cat Restrepo.
Music and sound was by Butter Music + Sound, audio post by Bronx Audio, Editing by Union Editorial, the colour studio was A52 Color and VFX were handled by Parliament.
Comment:
The insight here is that these days too many football fans are axing their pay and cable services these days, and with the pandemic meaning there are fewer safe places to watch games, even more people will be tempted to seek out games on dodgy, illegal streaming sites.
This comic, sometimes subtle and slightly bizarre approach is odd enough to stand out amidst the flurry of football marketing content around kickoff and yet still retains a feeling that it was a film made by a football fan for football fans.
Miller Lite also has official football partnerships such as its status as the official beer of the Dallas Cowboys.
Indeed, this latest football initiative follows on from the brand’s previous NFL related campaigns such as its Autumn 2018 campaign which saw legendary player and brand ambassador Jason Witten surprise committed Dallas Cowboys football fans by delivering beer to their homes (see case study).
Links:
Miller Lite
https://www.youtube.com/user/MillerLite
https://www.facebook.com/millerlite
https://twitter.com/millerlite
https://www.instagram.com/millerlite/
DDB Chicago
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