Don’t Support the Objectification of Women: Drink Craft Beer
If you are a self-respecting woman and, after reading this post, you still want to drink corporate beer. Well, then. I don’t know what to think.
Today I read a post entitled: 26 Highly Suggestive Girl Beer Ads.
The author notes: “Coming up with a marketing campaign for adult beverages isn’t very hard, yet they’re almost always successful when simple rules are followed. One approach, Suggestive girl ads. They sell, really well. Here is a collection of ads from around that (for at least guys) will surely get a response in the brain, if not elsewhere…Enjoy.”
Each and every single one of the 26 advertisements objectifies women in one way or another, some being more appalling than others.Some of them made me want to vomit. Literally.
By now most of you should know that it does not take much to for my feminist side to get fired up. It is moments like these where I really believe that our progressive society is actually regressing. It frustrates me to no end to think of all the people that have fought long and hard for woman’s rights and equality, just to have them objectified by mega corporations and admen.
Part of me wonders what almost completely naked women have to do with beer sales. But then I realize, when your actual product sucks, you have to find other methods to sell it. And unfortunately, in today’s sad pathetic world, sex sells.
The difference between craft beer and corporate beer is that the actual beer sells itself. Craft beer does not need to employ the help of huge ad agencies to develop multi-million dollar ad campaigns. Craft beer does not need to objectify women and sell sex in order to sell beer. The beer speaks for itself, naked women do not.
I suppose a lot can be said for people who drink craft beer over corporate beer. Obviously, they care about WHO makes their beer, WHERE the beer comes from, and WHAT goes into their beer. They will not settle for the lowest common denominator. They refuse to be victims of marketing ploys and ad campaigns. And, most importantly, they refuse to support companies that objectify women.
I want to raise a toast to all the pink boot wearing women in the craft beer industry who are brave enough to defy female standards and work in a male-dominated industry. I want to raise a toast to all the men in the industry who support woman’s rights and refuse to stoop to the level of mega-corporations and admen. I want to raise a toast to all the people in the world who choose to support craft beer in lieu of sub-par beers made with adjuncts that use ad campaigns that objectify women.
And if you are the kind of person that likes to sit down with a corporate beer from time to time, I encourage you to re-think your purchasing behaviors and beverage choices. Especially, if you are within 100 feet of The Wench. Trust me on this, you do not want to feel my wrath.
Cheers!
Christine October 12th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
YES! I agree 1000% with this. No doubt that many dumbass guys go out and buy some fizzy yellow piss-water beer because they saw some nearly-naked bimbos in some stupid commercial. It’s called marketing to the lowest common denominator, and it works very well for the purveyors of swill.
I’m a fan of Sam Adams beers. I like their commercials, such as where they show Jim Koch going to Bavaria to hand-pick the hops. That’s something I care about. But if he ever starts having naked bimbos in his ads, I’m done with them.
I agree…good beer sells itself through word of mouth…many beers I like, I first heard of from Facebook and beer blogs. Not because of some commercial that is insulting to women.
Wenchie October 12th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Thanks, Christine! And yes, that is why I used Sam Adams as an example. Very few craft breweries actually advertise. Sam Adams is definitely one of the bigger companies that advertises both on TV and in print … but they advertise the beer, the people who make the beer, and the quality ingredients that go into the beer.
No naked women needed.
Andrew October 12th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
These ads are so awful in so many ways. The objectification aside, I don’t even know what is going on in some of these.
Amie October 12th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Even when I was a macro beer drinking undergrad, I hated the beer ads. “Great taste, less filling.” Really? Now that I have seen the light, I’m even more disgusted. Why do women let ourselves be treated in this way? Be a feminist. Drink good beer. Cheers indeed.
Charles October 13th, 2010 at 5:22 am
Less out-and-out offensive than those, but still troubling: I had a post on my site a couple days back about “Top Beer” lists from non-beer magazines. During my research, I found so many lists with titles like “Beers Even Women Will Like!” or, conversely, “Chick Beers that YOU Will Like!” I learned things like it’s okay to drink wheat beers EVEN IF YOU’RE A MAN!.
Funny, nobody ever told me that women have inferior taste buds when it comes to beer. I try hard not to be a snob, but it’s tough sometimes when this is how a lot of the mainstream writes about beer (to be fair, there were some good lists too).
Frank October 13th, 2010 at 7:09 am
I just happened to come across this blog, so if my views don’t jibe with this community’s, just ignore me and I won’t bother coming back.
A marketing firm’s job is to promote their client’s brand. In the real world that often translates to polishing turds more than we’d like. Sex sells is unfortunately a practice proven over time. Marketers are only interested in the feelings of their target audience, and in this case there are plenty of men who enjoy seeing women objectified. Are you getting mad for someone giving their client’s customers what they want? Or should you direct your energy towards the people that vote with their dollars to make objectifying women a valid marketing tactic?
Marketing is fickle and we’ll use whatever our target audience responds to best, it has nothing to do with our individual moral compasses. Now this is my diagnosis and it holds no weight over any other, but if your true mission is to spread your ideology and inform the world over, taking yourself too seriously is a critical error. I don’t know any of you, as Is the case quite often on the internet. All I know is you’re mad as hell and want everyone else to know too.
I believe there was a Coors ad about a year ago where only men were getting injured in over the top ways and they would protects their pride by saying ‘I’m good’ when it was obvious a hospital visit was in their future. I threw my head back and laughed. These characters in the idiot box are cartoons. Their not worth your strife.
Shane October 13th, 2010 at 7:14 am
Dear Wench,
Thank you for posting this, I am in wholehearted agreement. The other day, one of my coworkers came over, saw my Beer Connoisseur mag, and said ‘Where are the half naked chicks? Shouldn’t that be part of any beer magazine’? Of course, that gave me an open door for a verbal asswhooping on ridiculous stereotypes of women and beer drinkers. He left, fully shamed. I’m glad of our craft beer trend, in both treating women with respect, and understanding that beer drinkers aren’t knuckleheaded drunks lusting after any piece of tail they can find. Keep up the great work! – The Burgundian
All Over Beer October 13th, 2010 at 8:36 am
Ashley, what did you think of Buckbean’s Noddy Girls playing beer pong with guests at CANFEST last weekend in a craft beer environment?
celenacipiaso October 13th, 2010 at 8:53 am
As a craft beer drinker and beer writer, I totally agree. This objectification of women degrades everything that women in beer stand for. It’s actually because of my anger at such ads that I started focusing writing a series on Women in Beer for The Beer Sessions. The Pink Boots Society is featured there and is everything that women in beer are about!!
You’re right, great beer sells itself. I was just talking about the Sam Adams ads the other day with my beer loving hubby — we both agree that they’re smarter and about the beer itself.
I think the bigger companies know they can’t rely on the the quality. Check out this article though.
http://www.drinkfocus.com/articles/beer/women-and-beer.html
Women drinkers are on the rise, and sooner or later, big companies have to realize that they can’t rely on those type of ads.
Samuel Cavero October 13th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Excellent read.
People who fall for these ad schemes should be ashamed of themselves. Why would a semi-naked chick or a dumbass commercial completely unrelated to the overall taste of the beer be the reason for someone to purchase that product? Mind boggling…
-Cheers to you!
Jessica October 13th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Great post. I’m also super bothered by the ads that instead of being sexually suggestive, suggest that if you don’t drink their beer, you are somehow a woman (and that’s the worst thing ever). I mostly avoid commercials, except in football season. I love football, but the tons of casually sexist beer ads make me crazy. The Sam Adams ads are cool, and of course my favorite local breweries don’t advertise in a conventional way. I’m a big fan of Stone, Green Flash, and Alpine. Nary a naked lady, or sexist commercial in sight.
Brew Hilda October 13th, 2010 at 11:46 am
My friend’s daughter is one of those “marketing girls” that promote the light piss beer at local bars by wearing scantily clad, way-too-tight, stiletto heeled outfits, and I watch in horror and shame and proudly chose to drink a true beer- one with depth, volume, flavor and color AND no degrading marketing gimics.
BikeBusBeer October 13th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Good post Ashley. While I agree that beverage companies are responsible for the objectifying ads, one must also ask that the women who appear in those ads take a look in the mirror. Just because someone offers you money to get (half) naked, doesn’t mean you have to take it.
The ads themselves are stupid, and sophisticated consumers (those who look for value and buy for quality) most likely disregard them. However, until the women who appear in the ads begin to refuse to disrobe for (what is likely very little) money, it seems like crucifying the advertisers is putting the cart before the horse (or killing the cold instead of the cancer, pick your simile). If one is to build a movement against such ads, one should start by getting women to think of themselves as more than a means to sell malternatives.
Organizations like the Pink Boots are certainly a large step in the right direction. Clearly, women who work in the craft beer industry deserve a great deal of respect, not only for thriving in a male-dominated profession, but for having the courage and self-respect to define themselves with their skill, and not just their looks. They are truly exemplars.
Hopefully, when it comes to such matters as beverage choice, we can learn to see people as people and not assume that they prefer a certain drink merely because they are male or female. A palate is a palate is a palate.
Women in Brewing at Stone « She Likes Beer October 13th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
[...] reading The Beer Wench’s recent blog post about the objectification of women in the beer ad industry, I was put into the super feminist [...]
Jessica Brown October 13th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Great article!! It’s not just big breweries that objectify women. A loca brewery here in Connecticut has gone from using Thomas Hooker (a religious figure who founded Hartford, CT) into basically just saying “Grab a Hooker.”
I used to support them, but have stopped because of this change. I’ll include a few links so you can see what I mean.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.html?fbid=10150285242385433&set=a.294071500432.319927.75622425432&ref=fbx_album
http://www.facebook.com/photo.html?fbid=10150198097995433&set=a.294071500432.319927.75622425432&ref=fbx_album
http://www.hookerbeer.com/store/clothing/always-a-happy-ending-t-shirt.html
http://www.hookerbeer.com/beers/#watermelon-ale
See what I mean!! And besides, the “all natural” watermelon ale is pink!!
Just pointing out that the big breweries don’t have a lock on bad taste.
Brewforia October 13th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Great post. I’ve long been a critic of so much of the way that beer is marketed. Television ads depicting scantily clad women, men getting kicked in the nads and other sophomoric antics don’t just degrade women but they degrade beer. When you reduce beer to a product that is to be consumed en masse during sporting events, backyard BBQ’s and when getting kicked in the nads then you are doing a great disservice to beer and to humanity as a whole.
I think the biggest reason we don’t see craft brewers turning to such pathetic advertising tactics is that they aren’t trying to maintain a 50%+ market share. Craft brewers, including Sam Adams know that 1% in our little corner of the bigger beer neighborhood is massive and you don’t need the mindless 19 year old market to be successful. Its only when you try to control a market do you need to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
What I find most entertaining is that Anheuser Busch and Miller have both recognized this to some extent and shifted a portion of their advertising to focus on things like triple hopping in the case of Miller Lite and Beechwood aging in the case of Budweiser but at the end of the day they still rely on the same sexist, juvenile tactics that got them to where they are today.
Wenchie October 13th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
@Shane — Thank you so much for standing up to your bigot coworkers. I’m really sick of beer being associated with “sexy” half naked women.
Wenchie October 13th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
@Brian (All Over Beer) — Not gonna lie, I was NOT into the Noddy Girls. Understood the concept, but did not like it. One bit. Besides, they knew nothing about craft beer. Ugh. MEN. This world is run by the pen15 club.
Wenchie October 13th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
@Mom — Please don’t tell me which one of our friend’s daughters has sold her soul and her body to corporate beer. The thought makes me sick. Those girls are just one step away from being strippers … and one step away from prostitution. It’s true.
Wenchie October 13th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
@Alex — I agree. Women are also at fault for this. But unfortunately, there is a demand for this. And wherever there is demand, there are many people trying to meet that demand. Money makes the world go round.
Ginger Johnson October 14th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Cheers! Well said – So…along these lines I’d also suggest you change your name from “wench”, which is negative to many women, to something more respectful. Best, Ginger
Wenchie October 14th, 2010 at 9:09 am
@Ginger — Technically speaking, I have redefined what a “wench” is … and I would change it, but I’ve already branded myself as such and it is already who I am known as in the beer community. Sorry!