BrewDog supports equal pay movement with ‘Pink IPA’ release

Scottish craft beer maker BrewDog is repackaging its flagship Punk IPA as Pink IPA in time for International Women’s Day.

The company, which has never shied away from addressing social issues like environmental change and a shortage of organ donors, said the beer is exactly the same inside the bottle as its regular Punk IPA.

It wants to raise further awareness around the global fight for gender equality, and in particular equal pay, with customers ‘who identify as female’ able to get 20% off Pink IPA at any of BrewDog’s bars from this Thursday.

The promotion coincides with International Women’s Day.

According to the Scottish company, that is the average difference between men’s and women’s pay in the UK, with rates of gender equality varying wildly from country to country. It also criticised the way some companies target female consumers.

“The gender pay gap is one issue to which we are taking aim with Pink IPA,” it said in a statement. “But we have a second problem that also warrants action. It beggars belief that in 2018 we are still seeing some breweries rely on sexist marketing to sell their beers.

“Lazily targeting the female market with sub-par products designed by expensive research are inherently patronising. Depicting women in wholly unacceptable ways on labels is something we do not condone, and creating concepts that undermine women’s ability to enjoy beer (any beer) is both short-sighted and restricts progression.”

20% of the proceeds from Punk IPA and Pink IPA sold over the next four weeks will be donated to charities that fight inequality and support women. In the UK, BrewDog is supporting the Women’s Engineering Society while in America, where the pay gap is 19%, the charity 9to5 will receive the same portion of the products’ profits.

In recent years, the craft pioneer has made a concerted effort to grow its presence outside Europe. The firm expanded its Equity for Punks crowdfunding concept to the US in August 2016, unveiling plans for a 100,000-square-foot brewery in Ohio, while last month the business announced plans for a new headquarters for its Australian operation that represent AUD 30 million’s ($23.6 million) worth of investment.

It is still investing in its original Scottish business, too, with ambitions for a craft beer hotel and expanded capacity at its headquarters in Aberdeenshire.

BrewDog launched an 8.5% ABV double India pale ale called Native Son less than a month ago.