Taking a satirical aim at what they describe as sexist marketing to women in the drinks industry, BrewDog have taken their Punk IPA, re-packaged it in lurid pink and renamed it Pink IPA – stating that it is a dig at the 'lazy marketing efforts' employed by other brands to 'target the female market'.
As part of the new campaign, the brand say they are hoping to raise awareness of gender pay inequality, with those who identify as women able to enjoy beer 20 per cent cheaper in BrewDog bars across the globe - with the discount equivalent to the gender pay gap in the UK.
The brewer has stated that for the next four weeks it will be donating 20 per cent of its proceeds from bottled Pink IPA and Punk IPA to causes that fight against gender inequality, The Women’s Engineering Society (WES), a charity and a professional network of women engineers, scientists and technologists that inspire and support girls and women to achieve their potential as engineers, applied scientists and technical leaders.
Picture: BrewDog
The brewery say their donations will go to causes that address current gender disparities and also seek to boost the number of young girls interested in a future in certain industries in which there is a widespread underrepresentation of women - particularly the science, technology, education and maths (STEM) industries.
For the campaign, BrewDog has launched brewdog.com/pink which provides information on the gender pay gap in different countries, as well as a video featuring women from the business, and detail on the charities that Pink IPA will support.
BrewDog say they are particularly interested and invested in developing a new wave of diversity in brewing.
Pink IPA will sold across the UK as well as in South Korea, Ireland, Germany, USA and The Netherlands.
Sarah Warman, BrewDog’s global head of marketing, commented: “The fact that the gender pay gap is still an issue in 2018 shows that a lot of lip service is being paid, but not enough action is being taken to tackle inequality.
"We want to accelerate change by empowering more women to make their voices heard and calling out industries and employees that need to do more. With Pink IPA, we are making a statement the only way we know how – with beer.”
“Women make up a small but growing percentage of my peers within the beer industry, and with Pink IPA we are hoping to welcome more people who identify as female into craft beer. It’s an incredible industry to be a part of, and the more women we can get working behind the bar, the more women we can hope to see the other side of it.”
“Sexism in the beer industry is rife. We can no longer ignore that its existence prevents plenty of incredible women joining our eclectic and exciting industry. There is a long history of products that pander and patronise through harmful, sexist stereotypes and vulgar imagery, and we’re rallying to put an end to this nonsense.
"The love of beer is not gendered. Beer is universal. Beer is for everyone.”
Tanisha Robinson, CEO of BrewDog USA added: “The beer industry has a duty to be representative of the people who drink beer. In practice, this means actively working toward inclusive work environments, rejecting sexist marketing and fighting societal stereotypes that push women away from spaces where beer is enjoyed.
"Pink IPA is our rallying call to brewers and beer fans to rise to the challenge and change the image of beer, forever.”
Allison Green, BrewDog’s people director added: “The confusion over the best method of calculating the pay gap contributes to the continued indifference to closing it. More should be done to contextualise this complex topic and inform the public about active measures to achieve equality.
"At BrewDog we are committed to a workplace free from inequality of any sort. We believe true parity can only come about through transparency and an unshakeable determination to resist and reject the status quo. We urge other employers to take active and comprehensive measures to make their businesses representative of the world around us and celebrate our differences whilst ensuring we champion equality – for all roles at all levels.”
BrewDog cofounder James Watt added: “Anything that promotes division, exclusion or elitism is antithetical to what we stand for at BrewDog and what we believe beer should be about. We exist to break down walls- physical and invisible- that prevent people from following their passions and enjoying the awesomeness of beer.”
