'I was forced to identify as female'

Who do you have to sue to get a cheap beer around here?

Scottish brewery BrewDog temporarily rebranded their Punk IPA as Pink IPA, in celebration of International Women’s Day 2018, replacing their usually blue labels with pink ones. Those who “identify as female” would also get a 20 percent discount on the sale.

“We’ve created a beer for girls. And it’s pink. Because women only like pink and glitter, right? #Sarcasm,” the beerkmaker tweeted last March. “Lets show that enough is enough with stereotypes.”

In a blog post on BrewDog’s website, they write, “Satirically dubbed Beer for Girls, Pink IPA is BrewDog’s clarion call to close the gender pay gap in the UK and around the world and to expose sexist marketing to women, particularly within the beer industry.”

Pink IPA’s promo materials are an “overt parody on the failed, tone-deaf campaigns that some brands have attempted in order to attract women.”

In spite of the company’s self-awareness, some criticize what they consider clumsy messaging.

“BrewDog is trying to be clever, sarcastic and ironic but I think it may be viewed as a patronising beer from one of the big boys,” Sara Barton, director of Brewster’s Brewing Company, told The Guardian. “[I]t may be too subtle for people to understand, over their heads and therefore patronising.”

One consumer felt particularly triggered by BrewDog’s foray into political activism. When Thomas Bower attempted to to order the discounted beer at the BrewDog bar in Cardiff, Wales, the bartender refused to sell at a lower “female” price, offering only the full price ale at £5 (about $6.30).

Bower says he had no other choice but to temporarily claim to be a woman. Then he alleged gender discrimination.

“After a bit of a back and forth with me protesting this, I felt forced to identify as female and was then able to get the drink for £4,” Bower told WalesOnline. “I complained to the company about this and they said it wasn’t discrimination because the price difference was part of a national campaign to raise awareness about the gender pay gap.”

When BrewDog ignored Bower’s public pleas, he decided to take the beermaker to court, claiming damages for “direct discrimination and breach of the Equality Act 2010.”

Turns out small claims court District Judge Marshall Phillips was on Bower’s side.

“In my judgment, it is clear that in this case the claimant has been directly discriminated against by the defendant because of his sex,” Phillips said in his judgement hearing. “The fact that by identifying as female he was still able to purchase a Pink IPA makes no difference. I accept what Dr Bower says, namely that identifying as female was the only way he could purchase a Pink IPA at a cost of £4.”

Judge Phillips added that the incident “wasn’t a pleasant experience” for Bower, who was unduly “humiliated” by the exchange. Representing himself in court, Bower was awarded £1,000 (about $1,254) in damages, half of which he says he intends to donate — ironically — to a women’s equal pay charity.

“After taking into account my costs, I donated equal amounts of this award to the Young Women’s Trust, which aims to help women negotiate for better pay, and the Campaign Against Living Miserably, which runs a male suicide prevention line, among other things.”

BrewDog has issued no further comment at this time.

Source: Nypost.com

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