Miller Chill featured in 'live' ad on 'Late Night'; MADISON & VINE: Brand stars in sketch written by Conan O'Brien's staff.(News)(Max Weinberg)

Advertising Age, October, 2007 by Mullman, Jeremy

Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN

The aug. 31 sketch started innocuously enough: NBC's "Late Night'' host Conan O'Brien joked to bandleader Max Weinberg that Miller had asked him to do a beer ad for its new Miller Chill brand, but he had refused because doing so would cheapen his image.

Mr. Weinberg suggested Mr. O'Brien shoot and air the ad in Japan, where American viewers wouldn't see it. Seconds later, viewers were watching an anime version of Mr. Weinberg, with Miller Chill bottles for arms, slaying a dragon as two giggling Japanese women looked on.

So is that a sketch or an ad, anyway?

"I'd call it a `live' commercial, with the `live' in quotation marks because it was pre-taped,: said Shari Post, VP-daytime and late night sales at NBC....

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