Not bottling the issue – Brewdog highlights gender pay gap with beer stunt

Scottish brewing giant takes a potshot at sexist marketing with the launch of cheaperfor-women Pink IPA

Scottish brewing giant Brewdog has announced it is taking on the global problem of gender pay inequality and combating sexist marketing with the launch of its Pink IPA.

Taking a satirical aim at what they describe as sexist marketing to women in the drinks industry, Brewdog have taken their Punk IPA, repackaged 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, such as the Women’s Engineering Society, 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.

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.

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.”

0 Pink IPA will raise awareness