Millenials Have Their Own, Liquor-Resembling Beer Now
Like un-hip soup before it, beer seems to have fallen (relatively) out of favor with pragmatic, efficiency-focused millenials, who prefer to do most of their drinking with hard liquor. Supposedly, this has something to do with Mad Men and cocktail culture being “where it’s at,” but regardless, this has resulted in an inevitable re-branding from major beer brands, who are releasing “cool”-looking, higher-ABV beers in a bid to entice young people. First we had Bud Light Platinum, and now Miller Fortune is entering the fray.
“It has become increasingly obvious to beer marketers that we are in competition in a broader space than beer, in the total beverage alcohol market,” explained a marketing executive for Miller. “It’s somewhat generational. Spirits has done a good job of getting the hearts and mins of legal-drinking-age millenials, portraying offerings as more sophisticated. Enter Miller Fortune.”
Fortune clocks in at 6.9% ABV, and, like Bud Light Platinum, will benefit from slick packing (in this case, black cans and bottles). Dunno if this is gonna trick anyone who wanted to drink liquor into drinking deli-quality beer instead—and, per the above photo, who drinks beer out of a tumbler??—but either way, it’s always comforting to feel like corporate executives really just get you. Keep the special hip beers coming.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.