Was the beer created by a brewer who wanted to drink it? I fully understand the need to have a market and the need to be sensitive to it but if the beer wasn’t brewed by someone whose sole purpose is to make a great beer then the entire point is moot.

Kristy, you could literally replace the word “beer” with “car” in your posts and you would still be able to read it with some minor verb changes (drink to drive). That to me speaks volumes about the intent.

If you truly want to educate and bring more women into the fold, why not collaborate with the Pink Boots Society? They (along with the Wench) are doing more to change perceptions about beer than a gimmick ever will.

Kristy – I think the disconnect comes in right about here (from your post):

“To me there’s a simple fact – men and women are different and want to be sold to and advertised to in a different way.”

I think to a lot of people (myself included) that is an inherently sexist viewpoint (and trust me that I have this argument in the U.S. a lot, too). To me, that sounds like you’re patronizing and stereotyping women. In fact, I think that the macrobreweries have a long history of patronizing and stereotyping men – and that is, in part, why the industry has a difficult time connecting with women.

There’s a big difference between marketing to women and NOT marketing to men. I wish that the focus was not to make a pink beer that comes in a sparkly shopping bag, but to help women feel comfortable about beer in a gender neutral way. Rather than putting the female-focus in, take the male-focus out. Do it with education, pairing with food, etc.

And I know that you guys focus on that, it’s just that it’s along the lines of “Beer paired with strawberries and chocolate!” and “It’s okay, beer doesn’t make you fat!” Both great things, both true, and both can relate to both genders – not just women. Having that information is awesome. Focusing that information on women is what seems patronizing and stereotyping.

I did just make those examples up, too, so nobody go weird on those.

@Laur I like to think of myself as an “actual” spokesperson for BitterSweet and Molson Coors UK (Erik already checked me out and I am real!!) and I found this blog because I was looking for it – partly because it’s my job but mostly because, as someone that loves beer, I’m really interested in the debate, that’s why I keep coming back. I have my own blog http://www.lightersideofbeer.com/ and you’ll see my views there too which won’t differ from anything I write here

It does surprise me the number of suggestions that at BitterSweet our aim is to patronize and stereotype women, I’d argue the amount of time we’re spending on insight shows exactly the opposite, we want to get to the best understanding of women and their relationship with beer. To me there’s a simple fact – men and women are different and want to be sold to and advertised to in a different way. That doesn’t mean advertising to ladies needs to be pink bows and butterflies but it should be different, if women wanted to be marketed to in the same way as men they’d be buying beer already wouldn’t they? What is wrong is that the beer industry have taken so long to wake up to that fact – as a women I actually find any company taking the time to understand me as a consumer and not assuming one size fits all shows respect for me rather than patronizes me and it’s high time we did the same in the beer industry.

@Brad Our goal is absolutely to educate women about beer, as I’ve already said this product is just one part of our work at BitterSweet, and certainly not the start, it’s based on researching over 30k women over the last 12 months to make sure that this is something that they want. But it has to be about more than just any one beer brand in isolation, it’s got be about getting women into the beer category by using the right glassware, tasting sessions, packaging, advertising, products and, as you rightly point out, by investing in those drinkers for the long term.

Our reason for being is to make great beer and to get more women to try those great beers, we’d never make a sub standard product and one that I personally wouldn’t be proud to stand up for. I’m just into my 10th year at Molson Coors UK, I just hope my boss doesn’t read all the calls for me to lose my job and I’m around to champion great beer for at least the next 10 years!!

1. Kristy thank you for responding, it is refreshing to hear from the “opposition.” I would like to offer a suggestion. Instead of marketing this new product (Douche is a great name for it BTW), why not invest in craft breweries? There are many who could use the money injected into Douche, many who are struggling and would help spread the word to women around the world as well as in the UK. Your company would see a return on investment, guaranteed.

2. Jason Harris made a few salient points that should be addressed. Cost and reality. The reality is that the issues we are talking about are deeper social issues. Why did the Wench preface her piece about Douche with such a long intro related to gender issues? Because gender issues are the most formidable wall of inequality the world over, bigger than race or ethnicity. I feel very strongly about this issue.

Prime example: except for North America, Europe, and cosmopolitan cities there is no where in the world where a woman can walk alone into a bar and just chill out with a beer or beverage of her choice. She will be stared at, she will not make friends, and it is highly likely she will be considered a whore and placed in danger. Even in Europe and North America there are many bars a woman would never enter alone. As a beer loving female traveler this bothers me to no end. This is one of the reasons women’ don’t drink beer. The world is still segregated into male and female social spaces, physical spaces, political and economic spaces. Sadly, gender issues aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.