A BEER company has been forced to issue an apology after its latest marketing campaign was branded "sexist" and "misogynistic" online.
South African brewers Vale came under fire after releasing its new collection of craft beers.
Controversially, the Vale Bru range was clumsily named after women, with tipples including the "Easy Blonde", "Ripe Redhead" and "Filthy Brunette".
The "Filthy Brunette" was promoted alongside the caption “when gushing and moist are used to describe something, then you know" while the "Easy Blonde" featured the tagline "all your friends have already had her".
Writer Lucy Corne was among those to hit out at the campaign, composing a blog post expressing disgust at the blatant "sexism" at the heart of the brewery’s marketing.
"Clearly the whole #metoo movement has passed these guys by," she wrote.
"Your 'hilarious' beer names show your attitude towards women - as something to have sex with. Not to be respected or included.
"I think what really irritates me though, is that these labels automatically exclude me as a drinker."
Despite issuing an apology over the issue, Vale then faced further criticism for apparently failing to grasp why the campaign went down so badly in the first place.
Corne captured a screenshot of the initial apology, which read:
"To any ladies out there that we have offended, please accept our humblest apologies.
"We aim to make our beer fun and we want our loyal followers to engage with us. Our attempt at making you, and ourselves, uncomfortable, worked."
Vale then issued a second statement clarifying its position:
"We were insensitive and wrong, for which we apologise unreservedly.
"We take full responsibility for our actions and we plan on making things right.
"Hindsight is an exact science and reflecting on the for/against sentiment of our actions, we understand now that we overlooked a deep underlying social issue.
"We live in a fragile society which needs nurturing rather than polarising actions, something which we have full clarity on now."
The brewery is now set to remove all of the labels from its new range with a view to creating a more inclusive campaign.
