Miller Lite converts sexist beer ads into fertilizer with help from Ilana Glazer

• Miller Lite is pledging to show past sexist beer ads into fertilizer as a part of a campaign running around Women’s History Month, based on a press release.
• The Molson Coors brand has been busy buying up old marketing materials off the web with the aim of converting them into compost that will be used to make fertilizer. The end product might be donated to women hops farmers, while the hops grown from the recycled materials might be sent to women brewers.
• To spread word of the “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” initiative, Miller Lite partnered with comedian Ilana Glazer, who explains the concept behind the campaign in a latest video. Miller Lite joins other beer marketers in reckoning with prior marketing strategies which have largely ignored or objectified women.

Miller Lite is wedding a number of different purpose marketing tactics together for Women’s History Month. “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” promotes sustainability, using outdated advertisements to create material that will be utilized in the brewing process. At the identical time, the brand is offering a mea culpa for the beer category’s sexist streak while supporting women brewers and farmers who actually work within the business.

While the campaign touches on serious social issues, “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” carries a humorous tone, as evidenced by its name and the presence of Glazer, who many consumers might know from “Broad City.” In a latest video, the comedian details women’s role within the brewing process stretching back to early human civilization. She then expresses disgust that this heritage was paid “homage” in the shape of ads depicting bikini-clad women and other types of misogyny, with vintage displays from Miller Lite front and center.

Miller Lite intends for “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” to not only address its past missteps, but additionally that of the entire beer industry. To that effect, the brand has spent the past several months buying up ads off the web for composting that can eventually be used to grow over 1,000 kilos of hops. The company will donate over five times the quantity it spends on the project to Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit benefiting women in brewing.

“Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” was handled internally by an all-women leadership team, per the press release. Parent company Molson Coors’ marketing for the past several years has been overseen by Michelle St. Jacques, who earlier this month was promoted from CMO to a newly created chief industrial officer position.

The effort timed for Women’s History Month builds on other Miller Lite platforms which have attempted to higher recognize women’s place in beer history. Last 12 months, the sunshine beer marketer released limited-edition cans honoring Mary Lisle, America’s first documented woman brewer.

Rivals have taken the same approach to Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, with “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T” strongly echoing a campaign from AB InBev. In 2019, Budweiser reimagined patronizing ads from the ‘50s and ‘60s to portray women in a more positive, independent light. The print placements were designed with women illustrators and in partnership with the marketing industry collective #SeeHer.