Of course you did! You’re reading this beer blog that’s written by a woman and there’s a fair chance that you are a woman beer-drinker yourself or that you know a beer-drinking woman.
The firm behind the abomination that is the ‘Boobzie’ on the other hand do NOT seem to know that women drink beer and, worse they have hired a PR firm that hasn’t put them straight.
What’s a Boobzie? Well it’s basically a novelty beer can holder in the shape of a big-breasted woman whose huge breasts are all but hanging out of her shirt – or a titty beer can holder as I think of it. I know what you’re thinking…. Have we fallen into a timewarp to the 1970s? But no, this is a product that I received a press release about today.
Here’s what the PR wrote about the titty beer-can holder: “The concept behind Boobzie is the inclusion of a playful back-story, and an edge that guarantees a stirring conversation.”
Really? I’d have said the concept behind it is objectifying women and making fun of their bodies while at the same time exploiting the fact that a worryingly large number of the male population likes to gawp at women’s breasts as if that’s what they’re there for. As for a stirring conversation, I think it might be more likely to run along these lines*.
“Hey, what are those tits doing on your beer?”
“Do you like it? It’s my titty beer can holder!”
“Yeah Man. I love tits! What’s say we sexually harass the female bartender and suggest she show us her tits?”
“Great idea Dude, maybe I can get my hands round her breasts the way you’ve got your hands round your can!”
Even worse the PR who sent me this garbage is a woman and such a bright spark that she thought she’d send this press release to at least two female beer writers – as if we’d fall about laughing at the idea of wrapping some tits round our beer.
Did she really think we’d like this thing? Or have I fallen into her evil trap by writing about it?
Here’s what I think of the Boobzie. It’s shit. Don’t buy one. Save your $8.95 (yes folks, it is an American product) and spend it on a nice beer brewed by someone who doesn’t think it is ok to use sexualised images of women to sell their beer or beer-related products.
And PR lady promoting this crap – shame on you! Shame on you for promoting something that is so degrading to your own sex and for not having the PR skills to work out that plenty of women drink beer (and many more in the US than in the UK) and even if they weren’t offended by it, might suffer as a result of the ‘stirring conversation’ you think it will promote.
*With apologies to my male drinking buddies who I know will also find this product disturbing and WRONG.
A FemAle View on Beer & Pubs 
Speechless
This is probably aimed at the mass canned (p*#s) lager drinking college boys in the States. Maybe they will bring out a male appendage straw for their next product? unbelievable!
Evil trap – yes. Shit – yes. Comes from the same camp who proclaim in shock and horror “you drink pints???!!!!” I suppose at the end of the day, it’s just a reeeaally distasteful stubby holder for people that only like lager.
” a worryingly large number of the male population likes to gawp at women’s breasts as if that’s what they’re there for”
Well, it sort of is. They’re a secondary sex characteristic, just like a peacock’s feathers.
Funny that Alex should make a reference to the “male apppendage”. I was having a discussion with one of my brewery tour groups a week ago about the appalling way in which some organisations are trying to encouragemen and women to consume their product (beer). What became apparent is that these efforts are the kind of sexually charged tacky approaches that actually put women drinkers off. If one were to take the same mindset, imagine what would happen if a shaving foam company was looking to target a new male consumer base by producing a penis shaped dispenser!!! Going back to the brewery tour group, there were two women who did not drink beer. Their perception of it had been formed by masculine imagery and memories of their father/ grandfather/uncle drinking bitter. Nothing in their perceptions made beer an attractive proposition. Within 5 minutes of sampling different styles, in a brewery, in dimple pint tankards amongst a group of men, we had two new fans of the product. This leads me to my point – providing women with the opportunity to discover and enjoy and existing product is the way forward. Formulating or tailoring a product (usually incorrectly) is not. Surrounding the industry with tacky accesories/imagery just makes the job even harder.
[…] brings me to a post I read today. Sophie Atherton really brings this point home where a company made the hugely […]
I did know and so do many people. Writers like you (and the “Beer Beauty”) who sell yourself primarily on being a woman, always making it seem like we should be surprised that you drink beer, are probably worse for furthering sexism though.
Stop using terms like “beer-drinking woman” too. It makes it sound like you’re saying something which is exceptionally amazing, like a tap-dancing horse, or a novel-writing sea lion.
Those annoyances aside though, I do like your reviews and writings. Keep up those things.