Liberal Talk Radio

First, Twelve Inches Of Snow. Now Miller Brewing is ditching bikini-clad babes for “thoughtful” commercials featuring a roundtable discussion of manliness led by Burt Reynolds. I don’t know which is worse:

If Miller Brewing is to be believed, the days of beer commercials stocked exclusively with brainless party boys and buxom blondes are over.

Instead, the company that brought the world the infamous “Catfight” ad is trying to atone for its past by introducing an ad campaign today that Miller says is intended to rise above the calculated inanity of most beer ads.

The commercials revolve around group discussions starring men who Miller says “have defined in their own way what manhood is all about.” Among others, they are the former National Football League star Jerome Bettis; the World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Triple H; Aron Ralston, the rock climber who cut off part of his arm after being pinned under a boulder; and the discussion group’s leader, the actor Burt Reynolds.

“They are true men,” said Erv Frederick, the vice president for marketing at Miller Brewing, owned by SABMiller. “They all have a lot of substance, and they have their own unique personal style.”

. . .

Mr. Frederick said that the company “wanted to move beyond that stereotype of men as sophomoric” or as “the lowest common denominator.”

“We’re trying to position it as a smarter, more intelligent light beer,” he said.

I’m not saying that women in bikinis is the first thing I think about when drinking beer, but I’m not sure it’s Burt Reynolds either . . .