CHICAGO (AP) – Advertising regulators say MillerCoors can claim Miller Lite has “more taste” than Bud Light and Michelob Ultra but recommends the brewer stop commercials that make it appear that the conclusion is based on a survey on taste preference.
At issue were vignettes Chicago-based MillerCoors produced showing consumers drinking unnamed beers and saying which had “more taste.”
Both sides of the dispute claimed victory Thursday from the National Advertising Division’s conclusion , a self-regulatory agency for the advertising industry.
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, said it was encouraged by the finding that Miller Lite “misrepresented itself” and conveyed a taste preference “unsupported by fact.”
MillerCoors, meanwhile, said it wasn’t surprised NAD found it “provided a reasonable basis” for claiming its beer had “more taste” because it instructed beer drinkers to focus on each beer’s taste.
