Moa rejects sexism criticism
Craft beer brewer Moa has dismissed suggestions its branding is ‘‘misogynistic’’ and says it has no plans to release a video labelled ‘‘unacceptable’’ by a shareholder.
At the brewer’s annual meeting on Friday, shareholders were shown a series of social media videos, featuring talking beer bottles.
Shareholder Jenny Miller took exception to one of the ads, voiced by a woman who wanted Botox and spoke with a southern American accent.
Moa chief executive Geoff Ross said the video was intended to stereotype American culture, not female culture.
Speaking after the meeting, he said the videos were in draft format and there was no release date yet.
During the meeting Miller also questioned whether it was time Moa had female representation on the company’s all-male board.
Ross said diversity was an issue the Moa board was aware of and he welcomed applications from women.
Another shareholder said he met a woman at the supermarket who was loading her trolley with boxes of Moa but said she found its branding misogynistic.
Half of Moa’s potential market were women, many of whom drank craft beer, he said.
‘‘But Moa’s packaging seems to only involve men and I wonder if we’re doing enough to market our product to women.’’
Ross pointed out that three out of four images in Moa’s new beercan branding featured women involved in outdoor activities such as skiing and surfing.
In 2012 Moa was called out for its initial public offering prospectus, which featured women in short skirts and well-dressed men smoking cigars.
‘‘If there’s some criticism over misogynistic messages, that was probably three years ago,’’ Ross said. ‘‘We’re well beyond that and we think we’ve got a really diverse customer base.’’
A longer video telling the ‘‘Moa story’’ would launch this week and be played to export markets.
Moa’s share price has risen 209 per cent over the past year, from a low of 27 cents in 2015 to a closing price of 88c on Friday.
The rally comes on the back of a 22 per cent reduction in operating costs and a 35 per cent increase in revenue for the 2016 year.
However, the brewer is yet to post a profit since it listed in 2013, recording a $2.9 million annual loss in May. Ross said loss-making was a deliberate strategy as the company invested in growth.
‘‘We think we’ve got a really diverse customer base.’’ Moa chief executive Geoff Ross