Miller Lite is dismissing backlash over a month’s-old ad that critics allege is “woke.”
In a statement to Fox Business, the beer brand said, “This video was about two things: worm poop and saying women shouldn’t be forced to mud wrestle in order to sell beer.”
“Neither of these things should be remotely controversial and we hope beer drinkers can appreciate the humor (and ridiculousness) of this video from back in March,” it added.
The ad, which was released in March to celebrate Women’s History Month, starts with comedian Ilana Glazer stating, “Here’s a little-known fact, women were among the very first to brew beer ever.”
“Centuries later, how did the industry pay homage to the founding mothers of beer? They put us in bikinis,” she continued, adding, “Wow!”
Glazer then disposed of an ad featuring bikini-clad women.
“It’s time beer made it up to women. So today, Miller Lite is on a mission to clean up not just their sh*t, but the whole industry’s sh*t,” she added.
The ad then focused on empowering female brewers. It concludes with Glazer saying, “Here’s to women, because without us, there would be no beer.”
The ad re-surfaced on Twitter on Monday and conservatives accused the company of being “woke.”
The Citizen Free Press tweeted, “Miller Lite has joined the woke cult.”
Miller Lite has joined the woke cultpic.twitter.com/czDl9XE2AJ
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 15, 2023
Meanwhile, Outkick’s Clay Travis tweeted, “Miller Lite saw the Bud Light disaster and decided they needed their own woke beer ad. These companies are broken & have no idea who actually consumes their products.”
Miller Lite saw the Bud Light disaster and decided they needed their own woke beer ad. These companies are broken & have no idea who actually consumes their products: pic.twitter.com/k9RKWVLJRF
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 15, 2023
Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong tweeted, “Miller Lite said to Bud Light, ‘hold my beer,’ and decided to create a new ad campaign straight out of early 2010s ‘I hate all men’ feminism to sell a drink to customers they hate.”
Miller Lite said to Bud Light, “hold my beer,” and decided to create a new ad campaign straight out of early 2010s “I hate all men” feminism to sell a drink to customers they hate. pic.twitter.com/9gTnP9rNik
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 15, 2023
Conservative radio host Jimmy Failla wrote, “Just saw the Miller Lite ad. We’re officially living in a woke reboot of Mad Men called ‘Mad Them.’ There’s no Jon Hamm this time because Don Draper is now DAWN Draper.”
Just saw the Miller Lite ad. We're officially living in a woke reboot of Mad Men called "Mad Them." There's no Jon Hamm this time because Don Draper is now DAWN Draper.
— Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) May 16, 2023
Another user tweeted, “Miller Lite feminist ad blurs the faces of women in bikinis, destroys their ads, makes it into fertilizer, for being offensive. This kind of ugly (literally and figuratively, for ugly women) feminism much more harmful than anything Dylan Mulvaney did. Hopefully leads to boycott.”
Miller Lite feminist ad blurs the faces of women in bikinis, destroys their ads, makes it into fertilizer, for being offensive. This kind of ugly (literally and figuratively, for ugly women) feminism much more harmful than anything Dylan Mulvaney did. Hopefully leads to boycott. https://t.co/kUKWhhBMvl
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) May 15, 2023
The backlash comes after a separate beer brand, Bud Light, was the subject of a boycott movement over its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
