This weekend saw the official launch of Chick in the U.S, a drink that single-handedly manages to belittle women while they drink it.
In a marketing scheme that could only come from the wife of a Bottle-O owner, Chick is the brainchild of Marylands resident Shazz Lewis, who explains her motivation pretty clearly: “One day, I was looking at the beer cooler — and we have over 400 beers — but there was nothing that shouted out ‘female.’ As a woman and mother of five daughters, I’m focused on that sort of thing. ”
Chick comes packaged in a cute/garish little six-pack that looks a bit like a handbag, while the bottles are wrapped in the image of a little black dress. “I happen to think all things ‘chick’ are terrific,” says Lewis, “I came up with a slogan that was a little in your face. It was empowering to turn it on its head. I’m not trying to be serious about it.”
Feministing are having a field day with poor old Shazza, who just wants to drink a female beer that ‘isn’t a gimmick’ but just so happens to be a gimmick by virtue of its packaging. “I think gendered marketing is silly and serves simply to reinforce the gender binary that gets reinforced so much that we’re practically getting beaten over the head with it,” says the writer. According to Lewis, however, that’s just not the point:
“It’s very mellow. It has a little less carbonation so it doesn’t make you burp.”
Oh, now we get it.
via Village Voice.
