An exploration of the existence of stereotypes and sexism in the UK brewing industry and culture
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Everyday Sexism founder calls for end to ‘sexist’ beer marketing
19 July 2015
Laura Bates
Credit: Southbank Centre/Flickr, cropped image
The founder of the Everyday Sexism project has called for beer companies to stop using 'tired, sexist stereotypes' to sell their products.
In her latest blog for the Guardian, Laura Bates said advertisers should “wake up and move on” from campaigns which portray men attempting to escape their wives and girlfriends or objectify women as the selling-point.
She said: “There is a powerful business case for beer companies to abandon the puerile
misogyny and step into the 21st century."
Bates' comments come after lager company Foster's announced it would be dropping its latest, and most successful, advertising campaign which features two Australian men.
The ‘Good Call’ series starred friends 'Brad and Dan' who were often seen lounging in deck chairs and giving advice to other men on issues like women and mates in the pub, while their bikini-wearing girlfriends took part in silent activities such as volleyball on the beach.
Alan Clark, chief of SABMiller which owns Foster’s and Peroni, said: “Beer now has associations with fashion, art and design. The world has moved on from lads telling jokes on a Saturday and high-volume consumption.
“Beer is now drunk by women and men together.”
According to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the number of female real ale drinkers in the UK has more than doubled in recent years, from 14 per cent to 34 per cent in 2013.
Laura added: “It’s not only women who might be offended by overtly misogynistic marketing.
“Companies risk alienating a significant number of male customers too.”
Clark Khat commented on the article: “As a man, and a beer drinker no less, I find these ads sexist against men. I'm no loudmouth yob, letcher, hooligan…it’s time we wimps reclaimed beer.”
Beer sommelier Sophie Atherton weighs in on Peroni's advertising
Concerns about beer marketing can be found across the world.
In March, a brewery in Brazil launched a beer named Feminista.
As reported in the Independent: "The beer is the brainchild of activism group 65|10, so named because a study found that 65 per cent of women in Brazil don't feel represented in commercials and only 10 per cent of people working in advertising are female."
Bates highlighted that Foster’s announcement has been partly met with “the predictable cry that the industry shouldn’t give in to PC warriors” but this is a debate she’s used to contending with and defending in her own work.
The Everyday Sexism project was set up in 2012 and is a compilation of stories shared by the public of their daily experiences of sexist behaviour and attitudes.
The project describes its aim as “tak[ing] a step towards gender equality, by proving wrong those who tell women that they can’t complain because we are equal.”