Beer by Women

This beer commercial claims that the company’s beer is produced by attractive women in skimpy clothing who take group showers while at work. It is quite comical and can be criticized in terms of media and cultural studies. Lana Rakow’s “male gaze” is evident multiple times as the camera angle is shot from below to look up at the women. This camera angle takes the perspective of a male douchebag. The women in the commercial are also performing a role of hyper-femininity as suggested by Judith Butler. They resemble Barbie dolls (like in Karen Goldman’s Princesa Plastica) with long hair, makeup, and sexy attire. The ad also features two men who attempt to bear signifiers of femininity in order to gain access to free beer and showers with naked women. They are quickly found to be corrupting the system which suggests males are vulnerable to temptation. The jobs that these women perform appear to be quite rugged and complex. The first woman shown is lifting a case of beer in slow motion. Another woman is using an over-size wrench but the task is unidentifiable because the camera (male gaze) focuses on her Barbie-like body. This intense beer production scene is a role-reversal for women from the domestic housewife that Sharon Sharp describes. In one scene, a woman is examining beer in a flask while wearing glasses and a lab coat. By portraying this scene as a fantasy, this scene suggests that attract women cannot perform the role of a scientist. It is also a type of culture jam because beer is not produced in this manner whatsoever.