Miller "High Life" $11.50 burger ad

[baltoellen]

I don't watch tons of TV, and when I do, generally avoid watching ads for beer since they seem to be of the scantily clad women gyrating to music...but, last night, during the All Star game I saw a great and Chowhoundish ad.

If you missed it, it's basically a Miller beer truck driver stopping outside a little bistro, grabbing a menu for a waiting patron, and seeing that the restaurant charges $11.50 for a burger. The driver barges into the kitchen, to the dismay of the very well heeled restaurant owner, and says something about an $11.50 burger being ridiculous, and not in keeping the with 'High Life" lifestyle. The driver and his workers take a hand cart, and take the beer from the fridge.

Anyway, I thought it was a fascinating glimpse of food and class, and reminded me of some discussions people have here regarding eating at dives or more or less fine dining.

I wonder if anyone else saw this ad, had thoughts on it, or thinks that $11.50 actually IS too much to pay for a burger?

Thanks.

[amethiste]

Referring back to the OP. I happily pay $11 for a mid rare cheeseburger and fries at Brewer's Art. Of couse they would not serve Miller High Life either ;-)

[baltoellen]

....well, if they ran out of Resurection or Ozzie (my personal fav) and only had MHLwell, then, one would have to reconsider.....;-)

[harrison]

How would he feel about bars in nyc charging $7 for a bottle of said beer?

[ajs228]

I think one could legitimately call that criminal.

[swsidejim]

I love these commercials, and I enjoy the $11.50 hamburger one, and the one which I think is a great shot at a Trader Joes/Whole Foods type grocery store.

I think $11.50 is too much to pay for a burger as well.

I purchase Miller High Life alot, I can get a 12 pack of bottles for under $7, and live the "high life". But then again I am just a regular guy from a working class background.

[Phaedrus]

When I was a young pup. Miller High Life was actually too expensive. We drank Wisconsin Club and Sterling's Black Label. $1.99 a case, including the bottle deposit. We were able to put the stuff in our soda machine in the rooming house we lived in. A quarter a bottle.

[nyfoodjoe]

$11.50 may or may not be too much for a burger...a really good angus beef burger on a brioche bun....I think they have done a great job with the commercials, creating a great niche for their product....they are all great

[baltoellen]

I don't mind cheap beer...actually, I'm a stickler about insisting that people drink cheap beer with steamed crabs, but never had the taste for Miller High Life. Not even in high school, when one drinks just about anything.

But, I realize I must really watch more TV, or do a search on youtube or something, since the $11.50 burger ad is the only one I've seen, and the others just sound great too!

[soupkitten]

uuuuuh. . . black label, aka punk rocker's choice. gawd that's some cruddy beer.

[lulubelle]

All the punks I hung out with (ok, still hang out with) are PBR fans.

[soupkitten]

yes. pbr is the punk beer of choice, but black label is/was the beer that everyone buys when they are po.-- it is always what's left in the ice when the pbr has been drunk. (i am 32)

[Phaedrus]

Drinking Black Label was one of life's early forks in the road where I pondered whether I was entering the domain of hopeless losers in life at the age of 20.

I decided I wasn't and rationalized that I needed both beer AND pocket change. It didn't screw up my liver nor my taste buds, I hope! I think the pairing of Black Label with MSG saturated ramen may have taken a few years off of my life though.

[mamamia]

A number of my family members drink it regularly.

Imagine our surprise while at a restaurant in a smallish midwestern town this past week, when my husband saw MHL on their beer list. You never see that where we're from.

We always joke with my dad, "How's the Champagne of beers treating you today, dad?"

[ajs228]

I still drink it occasionally. It's great for when you're standing around the grill, shooting the sh*t with some of your buddies.

[swsidejim]

I agree, the price is right, and perfect for what you mentioned.

[mojoeater]

Anybody remember the Schlitz hard cases of longnecks for about $4? One summer we had so many of those cases we made furniture of them. When we moved out, we turned them in for the deposit and financed a big move-out party. Ahhh, college.

[baltoellen]

when you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer!
Yes, I remember it. I also remember buying $3 six packs of Red, White & Blue beer and something called Weideman's beer over 20 years ago.

(Boy oh boy, I didn't realize that this post would take me down memory lane to my old drinking habits, and also make me realize how OLD I am *sigh*!)

[Davwud]

$11.50 is too much to pay for a burger.

A great hamburger is made from cheaper cuts of meat. It's simply seasoned and simply dressed. It does not come with fois gras, truffles or morel mushrooms. Thus, it doesn't need a hefty price tag.

DT

[soupkitten]

they also have great "high life" billboards-- my fave is one that shows a six-pack of hoity-toity bottled waters on one side (price $6 and change) and a six-pack of high life on the right (price $4 something)

caption: "proof that the world has gone completely insane" i laughed so hard i almost got into a wreak the first time i saw it-- and completely agree btw

[ajs228]

They had another one where the driver goes into what looks like a high-end grocery store, picks up a wedge of overpriced cheese and says that this place has no business selling High Life. Or the one where he walks into a club with a $20 cover charge and says, "there's no cover charge for the high life".
I love these commercials and I think they create a great niche for this brand.