CAMRA Leaves Bitter Taste

Well that was weird. In the past we have written about the surge in women drinking ale and written in praise of ale in general. We are, it seems, a part of the women drinking ale surge. In our student days we drank ale, impressing some and making others feel ashamed of us as they supped their Smirnoff Ice in the classic old man pub we'd dragged them to, confident that they were way cooler than us. Of course this was not true, we knew it, CAMRA knows it. Which is why they recently decided to target freshers in case they didn't know what really turns heads down the Union is to stride up to the bar and order a pint of Best. Only they went about it in a way that kind of suggested that they think young ladies might ask for a straw with their pint, and that makes us bitter. 

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The campaign designed to attract a younger crowd to CAMRA caught the eye of beer drinker Molyneux, who wrote in Molyneux's Beer Blog: "when I first clapped eyes on this, I thought it might be a hoax". It's easy to see why. 

The leaflet, titled 'Thirsty for More?' which Molyneux describes as looking like a "tacky pin-up Freshers club night" features a young man in a casual white t-shirt talking to two young ladies rather inexplicably wearing corsets. Perhaps they are at a tarts and trendy vicars theme freshers party. In another photo on the leaflet features a woman in hot pants provocatively leaning forward into her delicious ale. On the cover a beige be-suited young man (I suspect a tie pin is just out of sight) looks happily distracted as a blonde woman holding a real ale snuggles up to him.

Naturally many of the young members of CAMRA were embarrassed and offended by this leaflet which is peculiarly outdated, its designers appear to think young men yearn to be James Bond. If James Bond drove a Volvo and liked a quiet pint with someone who goes out in her underwear. 

its designers appear to think young men yearn to be James Bond. If James Bond drove a Volvo... 

One member in Leeds started a petition to request that CAMRA withdraw the sexist and humiliating leaflets, stating that: "The flyers show incredibly sexist pictures of vintage pin up models who wear low cut corsets, have open red lips and blond hair and who present their boobs and themselves to the viewer and the male beer drinkers in the flyer. This is not just an offensive way to objectify women who join Real Ale societies but also an insult to the intelligence and taste of ANYONE has has fought hard to stop 'beer sexism'. 

We believe that the Real Ale community should present itself as inclusive, non-threatening and friendly and that it should promote gender equality in ideology and visual images."

CAMRA have since withdrawn the leaflets, stating that they had received both positive and negative feedback regarding the campaign. CAMRA says it will: "work with CAMRA's young membership to create a new campaign." It invites members to contribute ideas to the campaign however Florack, who began the petition, noted that CAMRA has not actually issued an apology. 

If CAMRA wanted to attract a younger set then they have failed. If CAMRA wanted to vindicate those who think ale drinkers are old fashioned, sexist middle aged men then job done. Slow clap. 

Squeamish Kate