Discounted pink beer for women? BrewDog hasn’t gone nearly far enough

Beer company BrewDog’s attempt at satirical marketing has fallen flatter than a still ale in the tense run-up to International Women’s Day (IWD) 2018. It has been widely mocked for its attempt at addressing the gender pay gap by releasing a “new” Pink IPA with a pledge to sell it a fifth cheaper in its bars, because “women only like pink and glitter, right? #Sarcasm”. Needless to say, when you have to use a hashtag to clue people in to your “humour”, the cause is probably lost.

Just last year a Czech brewery released a product called Aurosa, a “beer for her”. The beer was pink, sold in a pink marbled bottle and nauseatingly described as “a representation of a woman’s strength and a girl’s tenderness”. The company later said it “never intended to take part in sexism, feminism or the like”. Against this backdrop, BrewDog creating a pink product it intends women to buy is not a great way to call out other companies’ marketing. It has fallen into its own trap and proved that women dislike the taste of lazy faux-feminism as much as “lady-friendly” Doritos crisps.

It would be nice to believe that the brewery had the right motivations and the wrong execution, but this is capitalism in action. As of 2016, only 25% of craft beer drinkers in the US were women. Tapping into the women’s market would be a strong financial decision, and it wouldn’t be the first time BrewDog has attempted to do something “wacky” for good PR and sales. In 2017 it gave paid leave for employees with new puppies, and in 2011 it produced a Viagra beer for the royal wedding. This time around, as seen by the scathing reaction from women on social media, it clearly needed to present a campaign with less satire and more sensitivity.

Source: theguardian