I was a Miller High Life guy for years, right up until the brewery started sponsoring street fairs for lawbreakers in Chicago. I wrote them a goodbye letter and switched to Bud.
Then about a year ago, Miller High Life launched a series of commercials starring Windell D. Middlebrooks, the greatest take-charge pitch man of all time. Four years after graduating from the Claire Trevor School of the Arts with an MFA in Drama, this roly poly, round-faced, baldheaded charmer has carved out a wonderful old school niche for himself.
He plays a guy in overalls who rides a Miller High Life beer truck. His job is the opposite of delivering beer; he takes it away from undeserving people who have already bought the product.
He and his crew have made it their mission to “take back the High Life” for real people and that means taking the Miller High Life away from the phonies.
After they remove the High Life from a nightclub with velvet ropes outside and a $20 cover charge inside, Windell yells “I’ve got shotgun” and hops into the truck.
He invades a skybox at a ball game and asks its denizens if they know what inning it is and when they don’t answer the crew starts on undelivering the High Life while Windell’s attention strays to the ball game. He bangs on the sealed shut window. “They can’t even hear me!”
The spots are brilliant and Windell Middlebrooks is pitch perfect. His voice, his movements, his smiling face, his muttering about the principles of the High Life are all bang on. He looks and acts like the working class hero he is. He turns the concept of elite upside down making the point that poseurs would like to drink Miller High Life but Windell won’t let them.
Now all Miller has to do is close the loop by making the one-to-one connection with millions of average guy beer drinkers who would be delighted to hear from Windell. That’s where DM comes in. In the meantime, you can see him on youtube. Just search for Miller High Life commercials.

Quick Note to Beer Aficionados: Sam Adams, Heineken, Lowenbrau, Anchor Steam (the best beer in the country), Molson, St. Pauli Girl, Smithwick’s, Guinness (new widget draught is outstanding), craft beers, boutique beers and on and on are fine, but they’re a different topic.