Guinness; Tapping the androgynous market?

When I think of the brand Guinness, I think of dark, heavy frothy beer; perfect for a late night drink, perhaps in a semi-modern, upscale bar; usually during a causal business meeting; “business drunk” (which I’m told is similar to “rich drunk” but have yet to verify personally). Now I know that I’m not like you, and that we are all individual beautiful snowflakes, etc; but I did feel I was sort of close to the mark when thinking of Guinness.

The latest campaign by BBDO has me wondering though; cause instead of associating feelings of being “business drunk” the ads make me think of androgyny; so perhaps the branding is now “unisex drunk”? “bisexual drunk”? Hark unto thee, if you’re not prepared, do not click the below link, cause you may not feel disgusted, but you’ll probably feel a little disturbed.

Note, the models in these pics are all guys. Great art direction, I’ll say, but not quite sure on the branding message to the target audience (unless the audience is leaning left… I mean left).

The drink for manly men?

Goodbye testosterone; hello estrogen.

Men, if another man looks at you like this, be wary; be on your guard.

An older image; tradition has its merits.

–

Advertising Agency: BBDO Shanghai, China
Creative Directors: WF Leong, Andrew Lok, John So
Art Directors: Yohan Si, WF Leong
Copywriters: Andrew Lok, WF Leong
Illustrator: Edwin Ho
Photographer: Edwin Ho
Additional credits: Rick Doerr
Published: September 2009

Related articles from around the web.

• BBDO, Fitzgerald+Co., JWT, and Grey Perform Best in Unaided Awareness and Overall Impression Ratings in Recent Study of Atlanta Advertising Executives (prweb.com)
• Adidas; Beautiful ads that say nothing. (littleredbook.cn)
• Guinness brewery blaze hurts 2 Dublin firefighters (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• The Art Of Guinness (coolhunting.com)
• How To Pour the Perfect Pint Of Guinness (howcast.com)

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