UPDATE: Bacardi has commented on this blogpost, apologizing and stating that the website has been taken down.
There’s an ad for Bacardi Breezers and it certainly ain’t pretty. In the new “Ugly Girlfriend” Campaign, McCann Digital has teamed up with Bacardi Breezers to target their beverages to women, who “want to look amazing this summer” by accessorizing with “an ugly girlfriend.” Of course, there are different options – and each is ripped apart by describing different woman as having, “97 kilograms of femininity, strength and double chins,” “rubbing thighs,” and “drooping breasts.” Apparently, having them by your side will make you, “the most desirable piece of meat around the grill.”
It’s not clear what overly sweet wine coolers have to do with “ugly girlfriends” – it really just seems to take a very nauseating, pointless dig at women – displaying blatant misogyny and using it to sell their products to women themselves.
If you are offended by this, you may contact Bacardi through their official contact page: http://www.bacardilimited.com/contact_us.aspx
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10 Comments
I’ve seen my share of sexist alcohol ads, but this one sets a whole new level as one of the most hateful and degrading I have ever seen.
Just when I believe that we’re moving away from such blatant misnogynistic images in the media, Bacardi has now taken it to new heights. Shameful. Bacardi can be sure that sales will drop because of this ad campaign.
Uch. Thank you for this posting. I’ll be using it in the pop culture class I’m teaching this fall.
Thanks for posting this. I run feminist adbusting campaigns, and this one is my new target. I try to get as many people to contribute as possible. You can read more about it on my personal blog or on the blog for Shameless Magazine. Please participate or spread the word to any other Photoshop junkies.
http://www.shamelessmag.com/blog/2009/06/take-a-stroll-with-sally/
Thank you for taking the time to post your story regarding Bacardi Breezer.
The campaign you are referring to ran in 2008 for two months in Israel. Even though Bacardi Breezer is not sold or distributed in the United States, we immediately notified the appropriate Bacardi affiliate and had this website shut down.
Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views of this site. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this site and thank you for bringing it to our attention.
If this ad was from 2008 why does the minisite refer to Cannes 09?
I had already heard this stupid theory about girls finding friends because of how they look like: the pretty ones looking for ugly girlfriends to look even prettier beside them and the ugly ones looking for pretty friends to “shine in their light” or something like that.
I told the guy who explained me this theory that he was an asshole, and I think these people from Bacardi are not better than him.
We wish to thank all of you who have written us about a past promotional campaign for Bacardi Breezer.
As a Company and as individuals we are also angered and dismayed that such a campaign was ever created and we have taken immediate action to stop it as it violated our stringent global marketing principles that we firmly support.
By way of explanation, but by no means an excuse, Bacardi never sponsored nor developed this promotion. But we understand it is our brand and our reputation and you are our consumers. We are also embarrassed that we didn’t catch this breach sooner. We have been urgently looking into this matter to make sure this type of activity is never repeated.
What we do know is that a third-party developed and activated this brief campaign in one small market more than a year ago without our clearance. When we discovered this promotion, we instructed our distributor to shut it down as it did not comply with our global marketing standards. We are now urgently looking into the reasons why this program was recently reposted on the internet. In markets where Bacardi does not have a corporate presence, we are represented by third parties; in this case a distributor and its advertising agency, but they must adhere to our stringent marketing principles, which clearly this campaign did not.
When Bacardi found out about this recent reposting, we immediately notified the agency and distributor to shutdown the website.
Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views of this site or the campaign, as it is offensive and completely inappropriate. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this campaign and thank you, our consumers for bringing it to our attention.
Sincerely,
Bacardi Limited
I Think maybe Bacardi should do some Self esteem campaigns, like “All woman are beautiful with or without alcohol?”
What a disgusting campaign,
What has this world come too?
There goes my money that you will never see again bacardi…
DISGUSTING disgrace against women.
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!
I never ever post but this time I will,Thanks alot for the great blog.