Should Molson Coors have been surprised by the shitstorm that followed the announcement it will launch a clear beer as part of a drive to increase the number of women lager drinkers in the UK?
I gotta think they could have been better prepared, but it might have taken supernatural powers to plan for the double blast (as in two barrels of a shotgun) that Melissa Cole and Ashley Routson delivered, then the comments that followed. Go look. I’ll wait.
Stephen Beaumont adds more the the topic so I’ll keep it brief. Recent studies have found men and women perceive some flavors and aromas differently (make that some men and women, because there’s nothing universal about these perceptions, so they very from man to man, from woman to woman). For instance, men (in general) are more likely to describe the aroma of Citra, a new-ish hop prominent in Sierra Nevada Torpedo, as “tropical fruit.” Women are more likely to find it “catty” (as in cat piss or liter box).
Should brewing companies — and it’s generally the largest ones that have the money to finance such research and make those changes — design beers to appeal those preferences? Should they draw up marketing campaigns with that in mind?
And a few more links since you made it this far . . .
Why beer matters. The second place runnerup in the little contest Pete Brown staged. You’ll notice in the comments that a few readers think that maybe Shea Luke should have been the winner. “I’m not a brewer, I’m not bearded, I’m not retired, and I am absolutely not a bloke, but, do you know what? Beer definitely matters to me.”
A cautionary tale of wine. Scary headline — “The Coming Carnage in the California Wine Industry” — but even scarier tale. It’s a story about business rather than romance and lifestyle, about wine rather than beer, but worth reading and considering.
The 5 Most Boring Topics in Beer Journalism. Could everything that needs to be written about beer have already been written? Is it time to move on? (In all fairness to Jay at Hedonist Beer Jive that is not is point. Go read — don’t let me misquote him.)
Beer labels as a work of art. Michael Halbert didn’t set out to be a beer label artist. “My wife was very religious and did not drink, so by extension, neither did I. The company I was working for at the time did a lot of ad work for Anheuser-Busch, but I told my boss I didn’t want to work on that account.” He eventually split with his wife, which is why millions of drinkers have bought his artwork.
Wines That Pack A Little Extra Kick. Lettie Teague writes about wines that clock 14% abv and more. “That’s one thing that the alcohol-haters leave out: Alcohol delivers flavors. ‘It’s like the fat in the meat,’ as Aldo Sohm, wine director of Le Bernardin in New York, once said to me. (I wasn’t sure if he meant it as a good thing, but I decided to take it that way.)”
When you can make a beer that gets the never drinking grandma to ask for another sip, it doesn’t get any clearer……that woman now likes beer,,,whether it be dark or light,,,lager or ale,,,she likes THAT beer.
Now when you find a beer that your sweetie likes to share with you,,,,,priceless!
Goofy and ridiculing marketing to women is sure to fail. Who wants that crap anyway. There seems to be quite sufficient history of women in brewing from around the world to satisfy a book,,a show,,and advertising campaign for women in brewing history,,education,,,and more.
What,,,women don’t have passion for what they create like men do?? Gimme a break.
I actually don’t meet many women that know that women were actually active in brewing historically,,,and they think only men do it now,,,,and only men did it back when,,,,and know of no women that do it now.
In reality,,I have met women that say they don’t like beer because of some taste in the beers they’ve tasted,,,and amazingly,,,they have attributed that distaste to hops. Yes,,we’ve had those same folks try our homebrews with the NM hops,,,and we’re brewing slackard/newbies in a sense,,,and I think we cheat and get these beer hating women to love the beers we brew,,,because of the NM hops. No coersion,,we ask for folks to tell us you hate that beer so we can cancel a variety due to friendly,,, dislike. All that matters is if that hop tastes great. All opinions count. Serious. We became amazed that the homebrews we make with the NM hops get non-beer drinking women loving beer,,,our beer,,,or any other with the NM hops. We didn’t ask for this,,,it just happened.
Shoving beer on women with disrespect will get one the same.
Offering options that women choose is another thing.
You know, I had a post about that Bittersweet partnership nine months ago, but it attracted less blogo-attention. This may be because: 1) I am less ubiquitous than the Beer Wench, 2) I am less charming than the Beer Wench, 3) my name is not something transgressive like the Beer Wench, or 4) I am less a woman than the Beer Wench. Nevertheless, I beat her to the punch.
Can you link things in comments? Let’s try: here’s the post.