Imagine, in the year 2018, thinking that a marketing campaign like that of Jozi-based craft beer company Vale Bru would work.

It’s not just the names of the beers –  Filthy Brunette, Easy Blonde and Ripe Redhead, for example – but also the descriptions that came with them.

Vale Bru also used the words “moist” and “gushing”, which is an immediate red card in my books.

The craft beer company came under fire from a number of angles, with Business Insider SA covering the story below:

[The campaign] includes the “Filthy Brunette”, which is an Indian (sic) Pale Ale , well as an Easy Blonde beer, with the tagline ‘All your friends have already had her’.

It also offers a Raven P*rra (an unflattering slang word for a Portuguese person) – “A porter with the best head in town” – beer and the Ripe Redhead – “Previously a Ginger P*key” (slur for people of the Traveller community).

Checks calendar to make sure it is, in fact, 2018 – yup, this is pretty poor.

Fail Bru. Ever heard of this little movement called #MeToo?

The backlash was swift:

The campaign sparked an outcry among women in the craft beer industry, including Thandi Guilherme, founder and author of the platform Craft Geek, who wrote a strong-worded blog post.

“Sexy is not always sexist. Know the difference,” was her advice “#Metoo, Rape culture and Trump’s ‘locker room’ misogyny are not funny. These are real problems that society is trying to deal with. Don’t go there.”

It’s like a bunch of 14 year old boys were tasked with designed a range of beer labels, Lucy Corne, founder of The Brewmistress, said in her missive.

Mias Nel, a partner at Vale Bru, said that he hadn’t slept since Monday, and the outcry was much worse than the brand had expected.

At first, they said they would stick with the names, but it looks like they’ve relented on that front. Vale Bru have issued two apologies, the first of which didn’t really hit the spot:

I’m getting a bit of a ‘sorry, not sorry’ vibe there, innit.

The second apology, posted to Facebook yesterday, was more sincere – some excerpts below:

It is never easy admitting to being wrong but at Vale we have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and our loyal fans.

We were insensitive and wrong, for which we apologise unreservedly. We take full accountability for our actions and we plan on making things right…

This is where we would like to engage with the ladies, where possible, we have infuriated…We know we were wrong but having a discussion with you could assist in creating even more clarity. The beer is on us if you agree to meet.

That’s better.

In this day and age, dropping the marketing ball is always going to be called out, so it pays to exercise caution, or at least to consult a few women and ask for the opinion.

Or, you know, you could just nail your marketing campaign the first time around, no problems.

One of this year’s biggest successes has been the Sol Beer campaign, where they teamed up with some of Mzansi’s finest peeps like @LesDaChef, @TheLawry & @CampsBayGirl.

Sol asked those influencers to show everyone what “Sunshine in a Bottle” means to them in the way they know best – with picture perfect snaps on Instagram and Facebook.

Here’s the really cool bit – those pictures were featured on digital billboards across Jozi, Pretoria and Cape Town, and all of a sudden every Sol lover wanted in.

Their fans didn’t hold back, and soon those digital billboards were back in action.

Imagine being stuck in traffic on a Monday afternoon, minding your own business and then bam, you spot your Instagram picture on a billboard?

Niiiice.

Lekker to see the true spirit of freedom in action across the beautiful sun-filled streets of South Africa.

Perhaps this should be a lesson to South African marketers – we should celebrate the people of this country, rather than trying to go with the crass and crude for a few cheap thrills.

[source:businsider]