The most sexist beer ads ever produced?
(click ads for closer look)
WOW. I thought this Czech blow-up doll beer commercial was bad. These ads for Coopers Premium Light Lager via Singapore (all male creative team, naturally) hit women with a double shot of misogyny. "Only 2.9% alcohol" reads the copy, meaning you'll stay sober enough to notice that the pretty party girl is a fatty(L) and that the chesty bar girl is an ugly (she's quite cute, actually). I'm not even going to go into all the bad Photoshopping/retouching. And these ads just won a bronze medal in the Press category at the Cannes advertising festival. Amazingly, unforgivably tasteless. (previously: 1, 2 more examples of misogynistic ads)
update 6pm: you'll notice that that blond has an engagement ring on her left hand. Also you'll notice that the freckled-girl is very young. So, I think that my pretty/fatty, chesty/ugly interpretation is not what the agency/advertiser is trying to communicate. They're trying to say 'drinking Coopers keeps you from hitting on engaged women or underage girls.' Though, judging by the comments, they've failed miserably (but still, why is the blond overweight? Anybody?). Either way, they're still bad, sexist ads. update: What do you think? Go vote on a poll about the ads on PollsBoutique.
posted by copyranter @ 2:30 PM
34 Comments:
Interesting how freckles equates to ugly. I love freckles myself. And I agree, the "ugly" freckled girl is cute and it's not because of her chest.
Oh these are bad indeed. Words fail me. I always wonder how it feels to be asked as a model for these ads. And how they ask it...
The weirdest part is actually that the one with blond hair is married (or at least has a diamond ring on her left ring finger). I wonder what the point of that was...? I'm getting really tired of beer commercials. Period. It doesn't matter what country they're from, they all suck.
Okay, at first glance, I saw the thumbnail of the ad on the left and thought, hmm, left arm bigger than the right, a slight twist on the gag of the guy with hustler and large right forearm: The girl who takes care of her boy friend and then after, gets him a beer. Then I looked closer and saw that I was way off.
Yeah, that’s pretty much all I wanted to say.
sexist? try genius.
Rantsy - think you missed the point on the second one - it's a cute (albeit skinny and naturally flat) girl who -- with beer goggles on -- appears to have a big rack.
Can't say I'm with you on this one, I think it's a nice new visual twist on an old cliche, though they could easily have done one with a dude with great abs but bald with an enormous double chin, so as not to offend those prissy bloggers out there.
Genius? Try readjusting your 8th-grade, easily-impressed brain.
Oh dear. So much fail. I think the terrible Photoshop work actually offends me more than the ad content. ;)
piece of shit!
So, let me get this right: galaxies of nipples and cum-dripping lips, and seas of menacing cocks are BRILLIANT, but an image that visualizes our own prejudices about appearance and propensities for regrettable drunken behavior is TASTELESS?
They both use sex to create a memorable impression, just using a different spin. Isn't a memorable ad what we're all after?
I agree about the visual aspects: the condom illustrations are quite nice, although the type seems sloppily executed (perhaps this occurred in English translation) and the "skinny girl" photoshopping is clumsy at best - they omitted the freckles on her breasts.
These are fucking awful.
Wow. These are really hateful and cruel.
racer, I didn't say that the AIDS ads were "BRILLIANT"...just that the illustrations were "wonderful"...as ads, they decent.
Thank you for recognizing misogyny when you see it, CR. A lot of men don't.
--From one of your female readers.
i was going to say exactly what john galt said (as someone who *has* freckles and is a redhead, there's a shockingly lot of freckles = ugly out there).
...but isn't everybody thristy now?????
These ads are more proof that retarded male breeders should all be castrated, gagged and left in a ditch to die a slow miserable death. What a bunch bunch of dumb baby fucking dick slaps.
LOVE that these won a Lion. (That's sarcasm.) Which only cements my disdain for advertising awards. The boys club is alive and well, my friends.
as a freckled redhead, I have never experienced anything but affection leaning towards fetishization of these attributes... well except for 4th grade where it was a decisive deficit.
i love my red hair and freckles!
Why are you defending ugly/fat women in an ad? No one gives them the time of day in the real world. And yes, I think that freckled girl is fugly. But in a world where people think dog breeds like Pugs and Pekingese are cute, who am I to say.
Oh, and juvenile-joke ads have been winning awards since they invented advertising festivals. If you're shocked, you haven't been in the ad business long enough.
YEAH!! I was right!
And I'm high! I was right, AND I'm high...
I was probably right because I'm high, but whatevs.
Why is anyone defending this piece of crap? Fine, have contempt for women, though I bet the fat and freckled chicks of the world need their beer goggles on to go home with any of you douchebags. But if you're somehow convinced this ad is anything less than total crap then explain it. Explain how the ad is any good, without going on into a sour grapes tangent about women.
Where is the quality here? Is it in the pictures of ugly chicks. (Ha ha. Ugly chicks. Brilliant. A trip to Wal-Mart must make you piss your pants.) Is it the beaten-into-the-ground joke about beer goggles? Is it the horrendous photoshop?
I think you're original interpretation was right-- for one thing, the first girl's head obviously does not match her body, and the ring isn't very prominent. The second one might be about underaged girls, but I think it's supposed to be that your "beer vision" (that nasty idea that beer makes you think "ugly" women are hot) is incomplete and only works part way, only transforming the face of the fat girl and the boobs of the freckly girl.
I like beer, and I'm a woman. I'm waiting for someone to make an ad that will appeal to me. Regardless of whether or not these are cruel, I don't think I would give them the time of day if I happened to see them in passing. I really don't think they would catch my attention.
You know why? Because the women aren't hot. Women like to look at hot women in ads.
It's messed up.
It is an ugly and nasty ad. there are a hell of a lot more out there mocking ugly men, and objectifying beautiful men. Better start boycotting chocolate ladies..
Isn't the idea that with only 2.9% alcohol, you only have 2.9% beer goggle power, meaning you only see the large girl's beer google improved face and the freckly girl's beer goggle improved boobs - the rest is real?
Not saying they are good ads, although I imagine the mainly male target audience who drink in bars and pick up women will get the joke.
I find it weird that you are so against these. They've identified their target audience (men who purposely get drunk to get laid) and come up with a clever idea to get their message across (less alcohol = worse beer goggles). You make it sound like they slaughtered their first-born children to Satan or something. Get real, it's a great ad. There are enough ads for women making fun of imperfect/drunk men - but, of course, those aren't really sexist, it's just a bit of fun. Am I right?
--a female reader
If that was the case (that the two women are supposed to represent trouble because they are engaged/young) then the blonde would have been skinny. Either the ads are sexist or just really, really progressive in their depiction of women's bodies because arms like that are never shown to sell beer unless they are being ridiculed.
Let's talk clear. This is a pretty nice insight taken out from a reality: Beer makes you kiss the ugliest without realizing you're really doing it. And that's a fact. So the ads, just played with that. Simple. But pertinent!
Coopers Brewery advises that the Premium Light advertisements appearing on this website were never commissioned by Coopers. Rest assured Coopers does not promote or condone disrespect for women under any circumstances. We are very disappointed that our product and company image would be portrayed in such a disrespectful manner.
Alcohol advertising has strict guidelines that ensure we do not fall into disrepute by vilifying any sector of the community. We are committed to adhering to these guidelines and our own company values of respect and responsibility. We at Coopers take pride in these values, and what is depicted in these Premium Light advertisements certainly does not show respect for women or responsible behaviour.
The images used have been obviously doctored, and if you look closely you can see the bottle image has simply been downloaded from the Coopers website. Our standard font style for wording is missing along with our advertising tagline of ‘Hand-made by the Cooper family’. It’s a point to note that all of our Coopers advertisements receive approval from the Australian Advertising Standards board prior to execution.
Coopers Brewery respectfully asks that these Premium Light "advertisements" be removed from the website, as they are misleading to the general public who view them. Coopers have also not given permission for the copyright of our product image to be used in this manner.
Kind regards,
Frank Akers
Customer Service
Coopers Brewery
http://www.coopers.com.au
customerservice@coopers.com.au
You can direct your congratulations for these scam Coopers ads to Andrew McKechnie (copywriter) now at Modernista Boston and one Thomas Yang (art director) at JWT Singapore. Both scammers of the highest degree. Coopers needs to make an example of these people!
Frank....welcome to the dark world of scam ads where heroes are made and salaries doubled and tripled on the back of fake ads like Coopers that solve no problems but instead create many, for marketing managers who have to rein the damage like you're having to do now.
Nothing seems to deter these scammers as they think ANYTHING goes as long as its 'creative'. These people don't just create ads they also judge them and practically every agency in Singapore has them as a Creative Director who oversees and demands scam work from his department.
I dont think any ad agency in Singapore has been sued for damaging a brand with inapropriate advertising and then running it without permission. You should consider going after these crooks or the scams will never stop......it may not happen to Coopers again...next time it will be someone else.
Hmm, my interpretation was that 2.9% is enough, so if you have a fat girl with a nice face (ie, 2.9% pretty) that's fine and you'll marry her.
The partially-working beer goggles explanation makes slightly more sense.
You gotta ask yourself though, if a bunch of folk from the industry struggle to figure an ad out, should it really be winning awards - hideously sexist scam or not.
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