Miller Lite - Cantenna

In fall 2020, Miller Lite flipped the script on typical beer advertising by turning its iconic can into a functional device - the Cantenna - part beer, part digital TV antenna. This stunt came at a moment when sports fans, shut out from stadiums and bars, were scrambling to stream NFL games at home, often resorting to sketchy or illegal streaming sites. Miller saw an opening.

The Cantenna was designed to plug directly into a television’s coax input and receive over-the-air broadcast signals. In other words: no subscription, no risky streaming links, no buffering nightmares - just free and legal access to your local broadcast lineup. The brand called it the “only reception device on the market that’s great tasting.”

To launch it, Miller partnered with DDB (Chicago and Miami) and production studio m ss ng p eces / Smuggler. The campaign leaned into the underground nature of illegal streaming - they seeded fake streaming links on social media and spoof sites, inviting curious fans to click. But the payoff was that those links eventually revealed themselves to be a Trojan Horse leading to the Cantenna: a way out of piracy and into legitimacy.

The central film piece played like a Sunday Night intro gone wrong. It started with familiar tropes - a country-rock anthem heralding the return of football - but then slipped into a cautionary tale. The narrative follows a fan who, while chasing illegal streams, ends up losing friends, identity, and eventually landing in federal prison. All the while, the film admonishes these risky choices and offers the Cantenna as the smarter alternative. The lawyer from earlier returns to lament: “You should’ve used the Cantenna.”

Miller gave away a limited number of Cantennas via sweepstakes. The campaign ran during the NFL season and was amplified across social, search, and influencer channels. The stunt wasn’t just creative - it was controversial: blending product, function, commentary, and critique of the very environment (pirate streaming) that threatens media profitability.

The campaign earned recognition in the advertising world: it won honors in Innovation & Branded Entertainment at The One Show, among others. Its success lies not just in its novelty, but in how it made a beer can relevant again - not just as packaging, but as a purposeful tool in the home experience.