From an article at Time: "The beer ensures lager loving ladies (and their metro-sexual counterparts) won't get left behind. And with its sleek design and "natural ingredients" of wheat malt and rice, who can resist? Dubbed "Copenhagen", the beer has just 4.5% alcohol and is branded for a sophisticated and international jet-set audience."We can see that there are a number of consumers, especially women, who are very aware of design when they choose beverage products. There may be situations where they are standing in a bar and want their drinks to match their style. In this case, they may well reject a beer if the design does not appeal to them," says Jeanette Elgaard Carlsson, International Innovation Director at Carlsberg." (Time Newsfeed)
"This bothers me to no end. I haven't been able to fully express or even grasp the multitude of reasons why I have such an adverse reaction to the new "gender neutral" beer as being women-friendly - in some ways, the assertion that women might want a beer that "matches their style" is at best a veiled insult to women who drink beer that is both well crafted and delicious, despite whether the flavor profile is "light and refreshing" or a heady Eisbock. I'm baffled. Are we, as women, supposed to be excited that someone at Carlsberg is looking out for us and has thought enough to market a beer in a generic looking label in a clear bottle that might not clash with our shoes?!? Women drinking beer are only as hindered by beer design and beer being a "man's" arena as their experiences allow them to be. Women were the original brewmistresses! Why is there even an agitation towards gender neutral beer in the first place? If one wishes to support breweries who don't "target dudes with bikini-clad sexpots," then make an informed choice at the beer counter and choose local, craft beers. End of story. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, or what the label looks like. To assume that Carlsberg's "gender-neutral" campaign is anything more than another sly marketing attempt is both naive and ill-postured."
Now, it might be because I'm fairly comfortable with beer that I've never felt shy about what beer I'm drinking because the label might not look good with my purse. I like to drink it, brew it, think about it, and talk about it. Please, fill me in if I'm missing something. Are women all over the world really a) supposed to buy into this and b) that insecure about a freaking drink? C'mon.
I'm all for choosing local, micro, craft & nano brews for a multitude of reasons, just one of which is the choice against big brands like Budweiser and Coors who actively market *to* boobs using boobs. If you choose your beer based on tit-size of the model slopping themselves over race cars and spilling out of bikinis, then I guess you deserve what's in your can. But this seems like a board room conversation on equal par with the skin-led ads! It doesn't matter what gender, age, or size you are. Just drink good beer.
