• Ad Age, Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:45 AM

In the wake of market share losses, Miller Brewing has canned the "Man Law" ad campaign that rolled out last spring with much hoopla. The ads featured celebrities that supposedly personified masculinity, including Burt Reynolds, football star Jerome Bettis and wrestler Triple H. They would meet to settle questions about manly behavior, such as if it is OK to put fruit in beer.

The spots drew hundreds of thousands of entries to an online "Manlawpedia," but did nothing to bump up sales. Indeed, Miller Lite lost ground to rivals with sales down in low-single digits last year. Meanwhile Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light and Coors Brewing Co.'s Coors Light saw sales climb in the mid- and low-single digits, respectively.

Miller executives say they believed "man laws" would seep into the popular culture and eventually boost sales. But their patience seems to be at an end. "It's a great campaign, but the environment has changed a lot since we originally set out with it," says Miller CEO Tom Long. "We feel like it's time to start putting some more focus back on the reasons why Miller Lite is simply a better beer than other competitive light beers."

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