Brewdog's Pink IPA

[LonginesPrime]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-43300969

Who thinks this was a genuine marketing strategy that they only realised was a terrible idea at the last minute?

"Not to worry - we can just tweet that it's ironic!"

I'm not assuming anything.

I go to beer festivals & I can see the demographic with my own eyes.

When I'm in the Beer/Real Ale section of Tesco I can see the other customers buying from there & I can see the demographic with my own eyes.

You can't ignore the facts - Yes, women are interested in craft beer - nowhere near as many women as men though.

This is a good move by Brewdog as it'll only increase their customer base as more women try it & like it (as per my previous post).

I can imagine the scene in the boardroom:-

James (or Martin): "So we go for Pink IPA for girls then?"

Marketing guru: "Fuck no, you'll get slaughtered in the media"

J (or M): Excellent!

I totally believe they are on board with supporting women.

To be fair, they are genuinely putting their money where their mouths are.

Eww, VaguelyAware, that's terrible!

I went to check out the blog and noticed they've posted this about the Pink IPA:

www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/pink-again

It basically says they misjudged things and then goes on to name and shame each of the women behind the marketing stunt they've just said they got wrong. Nice!

Is there a reason why they use ‘gender pay gap’, is it official in some way?

Surely it’s a sex pay gap? Can’t imagine there’s data to show the difference in earnings between 70-odd genders...

Is there a reason why they use ‘gender pay gap’, is it official in some way?

So you've got MumsNet but not Google??

Come on, put some bloody effort in - I'll spoon feed you this once.....

Gender Pay Gap

I only had to type "Gende" and it came up at the top.....

Nope.

I wonder if its because they have suddenly realised that beer for girls is in breech of the asa and won't go down too well with the portman group as its clearly marketed directly at a youth market or even children.

www.portmangroup.org.uk/codes/alcohol-marketing/code-of-practice/rules/appeal-to-under-18s
Rule 3.2 (h) A drink, its packaging or promotion should not have a particular appeal to under-18s (in the case of sponsorship, those under 18 years of age should not comprise more than 25% of the participants, audience or spectators).

Irony is one thing. But not only have they managed to fuck that up, but they also in attempting it, have potentially broken the law. The buck on that one doesn't stop at the marketing department, it goes right to the top.

Want to get an idea of just how badly this has gone? Here's YouGov's findings

yougov.co.uk/news/2018/03/06/brewdogs-pink-ipa-launch-looks-misguided/
BrewDog's Pink IPA launch: misguided and a missed opportunity

YouGov data does indicate that there is something of a gender imbalance in terms of who BrewDog is appealing to. Our Profiles tool shows that of those that like the brand, 76% are male, while only 24% are female.

Our data also reveals that 43% of those that like the brand believe that having products specifically made for men or women enforces stereotypes. However, when looking at women that like BrewDog, this increases to 63%.

Added to this, those that are fond of BrewDog do appreciate a company with a social conscience – close to half of this group (49%) say that they like a company to have a moral message, against 30% that don’t mind if it doesn’t.

So, while there is certainly an opportunity for BrewDog to appeal to women, this particular campaign may have missed the target due to the messaging behind it. In this case, BrewDog had to put too much resource into explaining its actions, indicating that there was a lack of clarity and simplicity – in short, the public didn’t get it.

So women who like brewdog particularly disliked the campaign. Oops.

Great plan to increase sales. Piss off your existing customers.

So, everyone gets 20% off then. Who isn't going to say "I'm female" to a cashier in a shop for 20% off beer? And of course it's illegal to question them.

This is great! Better that people see the issues with self-id in a relatively harmless way than when it really matters.

Makes sense - you have to be prepared to defy stereotype a bit to be a woman who drinks craft beer, so you're aware of the harm stereotyping does; I guess that you're more likely than average to identify as feminist.

This is going a bit far though:

While critics have largely stated that the campaign is well-intended, several have accused the brand of being ‘tone death’.

Tone deaf surely - I hope this mistake doesn't destroy the company completely, anyway!

so, everyone gets 20% off then. Who isn't going to say "I'm female" to a cashier in a shop for 20% off beer? And of course it's illegal to question them.

Trouble is, it's likely that the neither the random man saying he's a woman to get a discount, nor the bar staff who, whilst they might have had training on dealing with what to do when a transwomen wants to use the ladies, are unlikely to know they shouldn't challenge someone's gender identity.

So bar staff might challenge the man, and the man will back down as he knew he was trying his luck anyway. Or they might allow the man to buy the discounted beer, no-one would be any the wiser and BrewDog would think their campaign worked and they attracted loads of additional women.

Makes sense - you have to be prepared to defy stereotype a bit to be a woman who drinks craft beer, so you're aware of the harm stereotyping does; I guess that you're more likely than average to identify as feminist

I guess you would deeply disapprove of Guinness' Every girl needs a little black drink campaign in the 1970s? They still sell merchandise based on it.

www.guinnesswebstore.com/guinness-women-apparel-and-gift/guinness-lady-clothing-collection/

Worked for me and Guiness is still the only beer/ale I would ever think of asking for in a pub although I do occasionally buy the odd bottle of porter or stout or cider if something catches my eye in a shop.

Brewdog's crazee, wacky, hipster, brocialist, punning image is very off- putting and I doubt their stout or porter is any better than a less annoying brewer.