The Wrong Message?

I have TiVo and rarely am subjected to commercials. However, I have been enjoying some live sporting events these days - Tour de France and tennis to be a bit specific - and this means I am seeing more TV ads than normal. A "new to me" add on now is the Miller High Life adds where Miller supposedly removes High Life from the shelves of upscale/over-priced establishments. First view of this I openly laughed, I mean, it is a really funny ad. But then I got to thinking more about it because something didn't seem right about it. Now I realize what it was - the ad is actually putting out the wrong message.

What message is wrong? That beer doesn't belong in fine dining establishments with "11 dollar burgers". Now, if the message were that you shouldn't charge 7 bucks for a 12 ounce bottle of Miller I would be OK with the ad, but that wasn't their message. Not at all. The sinister part of me believes this ad campaign is an assault on Craft Beer in the US, the beers that are finding their way more and more into these establishments. I also admit that the folks of Miller didn't think of the message beyond the humor of it all... afterall, the commercial is funny.

I don't know though, America has a rich and celebrated love affair with beer, and it is certainly a working class drink of choice (by looking at the numbers), but to suggest it doesn't belong next to fine foods and establishments... that's just nutty. But, maybe the message is half right. I don't want a Miller High Life with my flavorful 11 dollar burger - no, I think I'd rather see a heavily hopped pilsner or American IPA next to my plate. You think that was their intended message? No. Me neither.