[h=1]Horrigan: How Miller Lite segmented America [/h] Kevin Horrigan [email protected] 314-340-8135 | Posted: Sunday, June 10, 2012 12:30 am
STLToday.comEXCERPT:
It was 1973. The Vietnam War was grinding to a halt. The Watergate investigation was in full flower. Disco was being born. And in Springfield, Ill., a product was being test-marketed that ultimately would result in American being segmented into a million little pieces.
It was Lite Beer from Miller.
Work with me here. I'm developing a theory.
Before there was Lite Beer, there was just beer. There were a lot of different brands, but it was mostly the same: 12-ounce cans of lager or pilsner containing roughly 150 calories. You had to go far out of your way to find something different, like a Heineken or a Guinness.
One nation, one beer. Everyone watched the same TV shows and got their news from (you should pardon the expression) mainstream sources. There were rich people, sure, but they hadn't yet begun to suck the marrow out of the middle class. The Vietnam War had been fought by enlisted men and draftees alike.
Then came Lite Beer from Miller, test marketed in Springfield, San Diego and Knoxville, Tenn. It was successful enough that Miller hired the advertising firm McCann-Erickson Worldwide to help roll it out nationwide. Pretty soon the "Tastes Great, Less Filling" campaign was everywhere. America's common culture was doomed.
First came more light beers. And dark beers. And ice beers. And beer with fruit in it. The natural reaction to all of this terrible beer was craft beers and microbrews.
People no longer listened to rock music. They listened to soft rock, classic rock, metal, funk, punk, alternative rock, Christian rock. They listened to classic country and new country and alt country. They listened to R&B and urban and soul and hip-hop and rap.
"Segmentation" was everywhere, people being shoved into tiny niches and markets. Department stores were confronted by boutiques and category-killer big-box stores. Cable news operations not only made it possible to get the news any time you wanted it, but flavored the way you liked it, too.
Then came the Internets, which created an infinite number of segments. If you liked stories about cats on skateboards, you no longer had to hope and pray that your local Ron Burgundy anchorman showed you a cat on a skateboard. You could spend all day long watching cats on skateboards and communicating with other cats-on-skateboard enthusiasts.
END EXCERPT
Interesting theory, personally, I blame Doug.
STLToday.comEXCERPT:
It was 1973. The Vietnam War was grinding to a halt. The Watergate investigation was in full flower. Disco was being born. And in Springfield, Ill., a product was being test-marketed that ultimately would result in American being segmented into a million little pieces.
It was Lite Beer from Miller.
Work with me here. I'm developing a theory.
Before there was Lite Beer, there was just beer. There were a lot of different brands, but it was mostly the same: 12-ounce cans of lager or pilsner containing roughly 150 calories. You had to go far out of your way to find something different, like a Heineken or a Guinness.
One nation, one beer. Everyone watched the same TV shows and got their news from (you should pardon the expression) mainstream sources. There were rich people, sure, but they hadn't yet begun to suck the marrow out of the middle class. The Vietnam War had been fought by enlisted men and draftees alike.
Then came Lite Beer from Miller, test marketed in Springfield, San Diego and Knoxville, Tenn. It was successful enough that Miller hired the advertising firm McCann-Erickson Worldwide to help roll it out nationwide. Pretty soon the "Tastes Great, Less Filling" campaign was everywhere. America's common culture was doomed.
First came more light beers. And dark beers. And ice beers. And beer with fruit in it. The natural reaction to all of this terrible beer was craft beers and microbrews.
People no longer listened to rock music. They listened to soft rock, classic rock, metal, funk, punk, alternative rock, Christian rock. They listened to classic country and new country and alt country. They listened to R&B and urban and soul and hip-hop and rap.
"Segmentation" was everywhere, people being shoved into tiny niches and markets. Department stores were confronted by boutiques and category-killer big-box stores. Cable news operations not only made it possible to get the news any time you wanted it, but flavored the way you liked it, too.
Then came the Internets, which created an infinite number of segments. If you liked stories about cats on skateboards, you no longer had to hope and pray that your local Ron Burgundy anchorman showed you a cat on a skateboard. You could spend all day long watching cats on skateboards and communicating with other cats-on-skateboard enthusiasts.
END EXCERPT
Interesting theory, personally, I blame Doug.
