for the night,” was met with heavy criticism on social media and accused of failing to recognise the major role alcohol plays in many cases of rape.

 

Vice president of Anheuser-Busch Alexander Lambrecht issued a statement the following day, informing the public that as a result of the response to the slogan, production of this message on all bottles had been stopped.

 

In the release, he said: “The Bud Light Up For Whatever campaign, now in its second year, has inspired millions of consumers to engage with our brand in a positive and light-hearted way.

 

“It’s clear that this particular message missed the mark, and we apologize.

 

“We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior. No means no.”

 

This is not the first time the campaign’s slogans have come under fire.

 

In March, Bud Light tweeted instructions out to St. Patrick’s Day revellers to “pinch people who aren’t #UpForWhatever.” Critics were quick to brand the tweet as an endorsement for people to touch others without their consent so the company swiftly deleted it, defending its intentions as “playful.”

 

Sex sells?

 

There is a widely-held understanding, evident all over the world, that the use of sex in advertisements is key to successfully selling a product.

 

According to Michelle Nelson, an advertising professor at the University of Illinois and researcher of gender targeting in adverts: “The research has said that sexual appeals, anything with sexual innuendo, whether it’s blatant or subtle, do get attention,” she told Al Jazeera America.

 

But, she added, companies should have their ads vetted more carefully to avoid mistakes such as this.

 

In relation to the Bud Light campaign, she said: “If they had just run it by one focus group, I suspect someone would have said, ‘Hey, this is wrong.’”

 

Other US experts claim some companies are well aware of the offensive nature of their slogans, but excuse them as jokes and exploit them for attention.

 

Jean Kilbourne, a scholar on the depiction of women in alcohol and tobacco adverts, told Al Jazeera America: “The truth is, the alcohol industry has been advertising alcohol for decades as a way to seduce women, with or without their consent.

 

“But I think we’re certainly at the point where we recognise that rape jokes aren’t funny.”

 

She believes ads are still used because they appeal to their target audience - the young men who drink beer like Bud Light - by presenting the protesters as prudish, lacking a sense of humour and not, to quote the brand, ‘up for anything.’

 

Interestingly, back in the UK, a recent study by marketing technology company Rocket Fuel and quoted by Laura Bates in her discussion of beer sexism, revealed consumers are four times more likely to respond to adverts which feature men rather than women.