Miller Lite

Miller Lite talked America into light beer. It wasn't the first low-calorie lager ever brewed — but it was the first one the country actually wanted to drink, and its 1975 national launch changed what "a beer" means in the United States.

Miller built it on a formula that came with its purchase of Chicago's Meister Brau brands, then did the real work in the ad break. "Tastes Great! Less Filling!" put retired athletes in bars arguing happily over a diet beer, and in doing so convinced American men that drinking light admitted nothing. It became one of the most celebrated campaigns in advertising history — and the template every light beer since has copied.

Fifty years on, the brand belongs to Molson Coors, which leans hard on one word — pilsner — to argue its light beer still tastes like beer. Brand Finance ranks it No. 13 among the world's most valuable beer brands.

More flavor than its calorie count suggests: golden rather than pale, with an honest bready-malt middle and a noticeable, almost peppery hop bite that most light-beer rivals skip. The body stays thin and the finish dry, but this is a light beer that still tastes recognizably of pilsner — which was always the argument.