She's a Tall Drink
Elizabeth Samuel

I have chosen to analyze the print ad campaign for Michelob Lager beer by the Anheuser-Bush Corporation, the world's largest brewery. The ad campaign I will focus on was printed in the fall of 2003. These ads have appeared in magazines and on large-scale billboards (see Figures 1-3). I have enclosed photographs of billboards and ads that appeared in different magazines, but I will focus my analysis on an ad that appeared on the back cover of New York Times Magazine from the Sunday New York Times on October 12, 2003 (Figure 1). The New York Times is an international newspaper based out of New York City that began in 1851. Sunday editions of the newspaper began to appear in 1861, and New York Times Magazine was introduced in 1896. In September 2003, The Sunday New York Times had a total circulation of 1,676,885 and was delivered to 1,062,353 homes.[1] The newspaper is targeted at an educated, middle class audience. It costs one dollar for a weekday paper, and $374.40 for a yearly subscription. Winner of 110 Pulitzer Prizes, the New York Times' featured sections include National and International news, Arts, Entertainment, and Business.

Michelob Lager was introduced as a draught beer in the United States in 1896. Now Michelob is available as a draught, in bottles and in cans in the US and in 17 other countries. Michelob Light was introduced in 1978. Michelob is an affordable beer that is less expensive than microbrews and expensive import labels. Currently Michelob has partnered with Playboy in the Third Annual 2003 Michelob Light/Playboy Triple Platinum Sweepstakes. In the contest three winners will attend the New Year's Eve Party at the Playboy mansion to live a "triple platinum dream" with the Dahm Triplets, platinum blond triplet Playboy models. Previous ad campaigns have emphasized the taste or low calorie content of the beer. While previous advertising has been constructed in gendered and sexualized ways, they are pale in comparison to the ad campaign in question. Through an examination of their website (www.michelob.com), the target audience for Michelob drinks are heterosexuals in their 20s and 30s. This audience is also primarily male identified, although there are campaigns directed at women as well.

The series of Michelob ads are framed around a central image that is a melding of a wet Michelob bottle and a thin, white woman placed on a white background (see Figure 1). The person depicted is the media representation of the social construction of the ideal â?~American' woman, what a recognizable woman is â?~supposed' to look like. She is thin, has a prominent bust line, long hair, tight â?~feminine' clothing, and wears jewelry. The "Michelob Woman" is placed in the center of the page, spanning the page's height. Her head and hair reach the top of the 8 ¹/₂" x 11" page, and the view of her body is cut at the beginning of her legs. The woman's clothes, and hair are in the pattern of a full Michelob Lager bottle that is covered with condensed water and the shape of her body is portrayed in the shape of a bottle. The Michelob label begins across the woman's breasts and continues to her crotch. The word "Imported" skims her breasts and "Michelob" wraps around her middle. The bottom of her torso is graced with a "guaranteed fresh every time" seal and the words "finest," "all natural," "smooth," and "rich." The woman's bare arms, neck, face, belt and some belly are portrayed in black and white. The lighting of the photograph comes from above the woman, and is focused on the side of her face and down her arms. The woman is posed provocatively, with her hands on her head, long swaying hair, head leaning back, eyes closed, mouth seductively open, and hips shifted to the side. Her face and body motion convey messages of sexualized pleasure.

While the ad technically is for Michelob Lager, it also is selling sex. Targeted at heterosexual white men, this series of ads reinforces and amplifies existing social connections between sex and alcohol. Like Michelob Lager, women, depicted here as the "Michelob Woman," are to be consumed. Beer and women are portrayed as objects of desire that intoxicate the mind and body. While the alcohol content of the beer affects a man's sobriety, the sex of the woman intoxicates the man erotically. The "Michelob Woman" combines erotic and alcohol intoxication, portraying Michelob Lager as the agent to achieve erotic intimacy with the woman, normalizing the connection between sex and alcohol. Drinking alcohol is portrayed to assist the consumer in "getting the woman" (i.e. getting sex). While alcohol itself cannot do "get the woman" on its own, it can be used as a tool to achieve such this goal. Sexual intercourse, consensual and nonconsensual, combined with alcohol consumption is common and encouraged in the media, movies, and in youth socializing.

The man's consumption of alcohol is only part of the equation for sexual encounters influenced by alcohol. The woman also needs to consume alcohol to reach erotic intoxication and to be "attained" by the man. This is an unfortunate understanding in United States, where consent is not prioritized and date rape drugs are common. The loss of motor control and judgment resulting from large amounts of alcohol consumption is often taken advantage of in sexual encounters. Alcohol is the most common drug found in rape victims. Roofies, and other inexpensive sedative date rape drugs produce amnesia, muscle relaxation, and slow motor responses, have been reportedly added to punch at fraternity parties, slipped into unmonitored drinks at bars, and used in other situations to sedate women in order to have sex with them.[2]

In conclusion, the current Michelob ad campaign not only conflates alcohol and sex with desire and consumption, but it also normalizes and reinforces the connection between alcohol intoxication and sex. It perpetuates the myth that consuming alcohol will help you get the ideal "sexy" women. Although it is a myth, people are successful in making the myth a reality by taking advantage of intoxicated people though force and date rape drugs. The continuation of such advertising and messaging is part of a complex network of social forces that portrays women as objects to be desired and attained, devaluing their bodies, condoning rape and reinforcing notions of male entitlement to sex.

Figure 3: Billboards in Chicago. Photo appeared on website of National Association of African Americans for Positive Imagery: www.naaapi.org/gallery/gallery2.as

 

[1] www.nytco.com/investors-nyt-circulation.html

[2] www.emergency.com/roofies.htm It should be noted that people of all genders are victims of rape and sexual assault. Women are focused on here in light of the nature of these ads and because they are the most common victims in the United States.