What is the measure of a man? According to the Miller High Life campaign out of Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore., a man is made up of many things, some intangible, some concrete. But all men share one quality: Whatever they do and however they do it, they are born to the High Life. And in order to be the men they were born to be, they must act in accordance with this dictate of nature.
Such is the world dreamed up by Jeff Kling and Jeff Williams, creative director and art director, respectively, on the campaign since its inception in 1998. Rob Palmer was recently appointed co-creative director on the account; Susan Hoffman, who previously held that position, was upped to executive creative director, overseeing Miller and other accounts.
In this world, High Life men go back to their down-to-earth roots. They don’t drink café mochas and shop at Banana Republic. They are no-nonsense; they shun convenience; they don’t waste their time washing their hands before eating a donut; and the only kind of salad to tarnish their plates is macaroni, egg or potato. The beer for these men? Miller High Life.
The slate of spots in 2000 consists of: "Golden Bait," "Empty Lake," "Grass Seed," "Baldness," "Grandma," "Heavy Reading" and "Pop the Top." In "Baldness" a man is viewed in parts—his arms, his back, his head—planting a tree, then picking up a bottle of Miller. The voiceover intones, "Can someone please explain why baldness is regarded as a problem? The character of a man was once evident in his jawline, not his hairline. When we planted our flag on the moon, no one cared how much hair we had under our helmets. Maybe more men will realize that comfort in one’s manhood feels better than any toupée. Now, that’s living … the High Life."
Kling and Williams explain that they weren’t worried about alienating women with their exclusive focus on the High Life man. "We don’t have too much of a problem, other than moral and ethical, alienating the woman beer-drinker, because women don’t drink beer," Kling explains, tongue-in-cheek. "The fundamental premise is that not even the men are doing their part."
All of the Miller spots have been helmed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, who is represented for commercial work by bicoastal/international @radical. media. Morris has directed such films as The Thin Blue Line, Fast Cheap & Out of Control and Mr. Death. Although Kling and Williams didn’t have Morris in mind specifically when they concepted the campaign, they believe he was the perfect choice.
"We wanted the spots to have the authority of looking older, and lavishing these arcane and absurd subjects with a lot of attention," says Kling. "But we also didn’t want them to look irrelevant and retro. And we thought that Errol, based on what we saw in his movie Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, would really deliver on that. Once we talked to him, we thought, ‘Wow, we’ve found our guy.’ Then we all worked together to come up with the visual."
And Morris, in turn, admires Kling and Williams. "I think they are two of the most talented people I know in advertising. They are both extraordinary. And I’m not just saying this. It’s actually heartfelt. I’ve told Kling that he’s written the single best line in the English language since Shakespeare, from an early spot, ‘Duct Tape,’ " explains Morris, referring to an ad in which a man repairs his refrigerator with the product. "[The line is] ‘If the pharaohs had invented duct tape, the sphinx would still have a nose.’ "
The manifesto
Viewed as a whole, the spots create a coherent world. "In creating a brand, you’re creating a world," he relates. "You’re dealing with an underlying kind of cosmology. … that was always the idea with this, that we’re creating a mini-movie: a world where values have been correctly readjusted. And once you make basic decisions about ideas, the rest follows."
Morris relates that working with Kling and Williams is a different experience because it’s so collaborative. "Jeff Williams, the first time we worked together, said one of the nicest things—perhaps the nicest thing—anyone has ever said to me on a film set. He said, ‘You know, my job is, when the director has gotten everything set up perfectly, to come in and fuck it up. But with you, I don’t have to come in and fuck it up—because it’s fucked up already! ‘ "
The spots use the voiceover talents of Doug Jeffers, whose slightly bizarre, breathless pacing is perfect for the ads. "I used to produce and cast and write and direct radio in New York, and Doug would come in for the occasional casting call," Kling recalls. "He has this very odd way about him, really odd. … I had this guy in mind, because we had this older, omniscient, very authoritative voice in mind. And he had a calm tone, rather than shrill or angry."
"A grandfather!" interjects Williams. "Yeah, kind of like a grandfather," agrees Kling. "But not somebody annoying."
Although all of the Miller ads are arranged around a very similar theme, Kling and Williams have managed to keep the ideas fresh. "We think it’s very rich territory, you know?" Kling explains. "I guess it can get as deep as the stuff of a man’s life gets."
"Or a lot of it just comes from experience," adds Williams.
Williams and Kling have enough experience between the two of them to be acquainted with the stuff of a man’s life. Williams started out as a graphic designer. The University of Alabama alum attended Atlanta’s Portfolio Center, then landed a job at Cole & Weber, Seattle. He was fired for "not being ad-y enough," but W+K loved his book. Kling went to Duke University, Durham, N.C. After stints as a "pizza king" and a manager of a sports supply company, he says, the "average length of the business school application convinced me I was born to work in advertising."
The two are always focused on Miller, but do some other work, such as spots for the Sundance Film Festival and a trailer for Fight Club. "We just got a new piece of business in a pitch that we’re not at liberty to discuss," Kling discloses. But for now the pair are focused on shooting new Miller spots. "We just have to keep going where men used to be," says Williams.
"Where more men need to realize they need to be," adds Kling.Û
