TOPIC:

This just arrived in my inbox
[quote:2a0zfglx]I’m writing on behalf of the BitterSweet Partnership, which has been set up by Coors Brewers to address and remove the gender imbalance that exists around beer consumption and targeting. As a beer blogger, I thought you might be interested in this initiative despite you are obviously not the target of this new beer.

The BitterSweet Partnership conducted research of over 2,000 women to get their thoughts and found that there are very real barriers and myths that exist around women and beer. They found that a third of women in the UK enjoy drinking beer, but feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to order it outside of music or sporting events. 42% of those polled think the industry should change its advertising first and foremost if it’s to make beer more appealing to women –and it’s not a taste issue, as only a quarter (26%) said the taste should be altered.

The Bittersweet Partnership has been set up to understand what women really want when it comes to beer – everything from advertising, education about the true calorific content, through to the glass it is drunk from. This information will be used to develop new initiatives to improve the drinking experience and change the way Coors brands engage with women in the future.

We’d be really interested to know your thoughts on this. There’s a dedicated website, <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="www.bittersweetpartnership.com">www.bittersweetpartnership.com and for more information you can see the full research report here[/url:2a0zfglx] and the press release here[/url:2a0zfglx].[/quote:2a0zfglx]I think they're definitely on to something with the way it's advertised (seen this[/url:2a0zfglx]?), and with the glass shape, but...

26% of women [i:2a0zfglx]want the taste of beer altered to suit them[/i:2a0zfglx]!? Oi! 'ands off, dahlin'!

But but but maybe those 26% are hopheads..... <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

Where the hell did they show that Guinness add?

OK, sloppy research on my part: it's not an actual ad. But it's not far off some of them.

&amp;quot;Diageo&amp;quot;:2c9ul4wu wrote: Please be assured that Guinness is in no way associated with this video, and has approached YouTube to have it removed. We are proud of our brand, and our commitment to responsible marketing, and this is not how we want our brand portrayed[/quote:2c9ul4wu]

"The Bittersweet Partnership has been set up to understand what women really want when it comes to beer" - or anything else for that mattter! Sorry Ladies!
I'm not sure that I would agree with their finding that women feel uncomfortable ordering beer outside of sports events/music events. Maybe that is from UK research, but I haven't particularly noticed that in Ireland. Maybe Irish women are not shy about saying what they want (in terms of drinking).

I remember reading an article before about women drinking in pubs, and how they could be encouraged more - possibly CAMRA related. Men were, it seems, far more likely than women to go into a pub alone, order a pint and sit down at a table and read the newspaper or book.
While men were more comfortable doing this, women felt there may be a stigma attached, or, worse still, it would be akin to holding aloft a big banner saying 'Come chat me up, drunkard'.
I think the recommendation from the report was for doilies. Doilies and pot pourri.