The following article is the opinion of Elizabeth House-Burnett and not of OMG… well not everyone at OMG.

Canadian Club (CC) laughs in the face of gender neutrality with its new “Damn Right” campaign. The ads feature the fathers of my generation doing “manly” things like picking up cute women, refusing to pluck, tweeze or wax anything and of course, drinking manly whisky on the rocks instead of something out of a tall, skinny glass with an umbrella.

Will my feminist card be revoked if I admit I kind of like it?

Now before my peers of 30-ish Mom-types (who fight with their daughters to forego anything Barbie and embrace the world of Tonka trucks – because you CAN) put a hit out on me, hear me out.

From a true feminist perspective, it’s everything we hate. It promotes gender stereotypes, doesn’t show one woman drinking this “effortless” drink and plays off the beer-commercial ideology of the studly man drinking his studly drink to attract hot chicks. So why do I like it?

Because it’s smart marketing. And I must defend it against the railings of my inner feminist ranting, “Women can drink CC too, dammit!”

Gender neutrality is a funny thing when it comes to advertising. Gender specific marketing starts when we’re kids. Boys play with Tonka Trucks (note Tonka’s new “Built for Boyhood” tagline that has the most rabid feminist mothers foaming at the mouth). Girls play with Barbies. The same gender messages follow us our entire lives. When is the last time you saw a Mother’s Day ad selling car parts or tools? Or a Father’s Day flyer showing big sales on housewares or pots and pans?

I’m willing to bet that Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. and ad creator BBDO Chicago geared the ad toward the demographic that will drink, and thus purchase, their product. Targeted Marketing 101: Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Who is most likely to drink CC? Guys. Who buys the product most often? Guys born in the 60s and 70s, who can relate to the photos and the ways of their fathers, or men who are secretly wishing gender dynamics could be as simple as they were back then (although in my opinion, that particular segment of the population would probably respond best to cavemen). Show that in an ad, and you’ll get the guys who think “to hell with this Singapore Sling! I want something MANLY like my Dad!”

Besides, why is it always the guy products that have to be politically correct? The last time gender stereotypes were lamented among a group of my 30-something-Moms, I asked why it’s always the beer commercials and Tonka trucks that get slammed and not products marketing specifically to women. Rarely do we see Pantene Pro-V peddling shiny, manageable hair to men. In fact, the last Herbal Essences commercial I watched mocked the biker guy with the long hair. How PC is that?

As much as it pains me to admit it, once you start playing the PC card, you muddle your message and make the money spent on your advertising akin to shouting “buy this” to the winds. Cheers to Canadian Club for coming up with something interesting, a bit sexy in a creepy kind of way (it is your dad, after all) and best of all, something that works despite mounting pressure in society to be as politically correct and gender neutral as possible.
Cheers!