Johnnie Walker Invites Women to Drink Scotch With New ‘Jane Walker’ Label

Remember a few weeks ago, when the whole of the Internet came down with a rain of fire on Doritos and PepsiCo after its CEO Indra Nooyi even insinuated that the company may one day make chips specifically designed for women? Following the outcry the brand quickly walked back that claim. However, that vitriol over pandering to women in such a clichéd way wasn’t enough to stop another food and beverage company from making a similar choice.

On Monday Johnnie Walker announced that it would be changing its famous label from a male “Johnnie” to a female “Jane Walker” for the entire month of March, a.k.a. Women’s History Month, in an attempt to lure more female drinkers in and to “honor” women. Or, as their spokesperson said, to make women feel comfortable drinking scotch. Because women had an issue drinking it before because a man was on the packaging.

“Scotch as a category is seen as particularly intimidating by women,” Stephanie Jacoby, vice president of Johnnie Walker, told Bloomberg. “It’s a really exciting opportunity to invite women into the brand.”

The thing is, women don’t need convincing or an invitation. They were already drinking scotch and its cousins whiskey and bourbon for some time. According to Forbes, around 30 to 40 percent of consumers of scotch, blends, and bourbons are women.

In fact, women drank so much bourbon in 2014 that they were partially blamed for the spirit’s shortage.

“The growth in female consumption is purely organic. Women were in whiskey at the very start, and they are leading it today,” Fred Minnick, contributor to Whiskey Magazine, told Forbes way back in 2014. “Women apply a certain connoisseurship to whiskey. They buy heavily peated scotches, and they have great palates and noses, much better than men’s,” he added. And you can trust him, he literally wrote the book on women and whiskey, titled Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey.

But, beyond what one whiskey historian thinks, actual women today are letting the company know on social media that pandering to them with a label that will live over women’s history month only makes it seem trite and far from authentic.

“Johnnie Walker is rolling out a female version of its iconic Scotch logo. Is this supposed to go with those Lady Doritos,” Kytja Weir wrote on Twitter.

Johnnie Walker is rolling out a female version of its iconic Scotch logo. Is this supposed to go with those Lady Doritos? https://t.co/3iXE84miqu

— Kytja Weir (@kytja) February 26, 2018

“Have we learned nothing from the ‘Bic for Her’ pen scandal of 2012??” Rebecca Greenfield lamented.

https://twitter.com/rzgreenfield/status/968166174977613829

“As a lady who drinks scotch I am HEARTILY ROLLING MY EYES at this nonsense,” Felicity Disco added.

As a lady who drinks scotch I am HEARTILY ROLLING MY EYES at this nonsense. https://t.co/Rag8nYrq4x

— Felicity Disco (@FelicityDisco) February 26, 2018

Though really, not all of Jacoby’s announcement was as cringe-worthy as the label. According to Jacoby, Johnnie Walker is actually committing to giving women more control over the brand. As she noted to Bloomberg, the company’s board will be 50 percent female in April.

Furthermore, you may want to buy this ridiculous marketing ploy of a product after you learn that the company will donate $1 for each bottle produced to nonprofit campaigns. Those campaigns include Monumental Women, an organization hoping to erect at least one monument to a real woman in New York’s Central Park, and She Should Run, a group dedicated to helping more women register and run for office around the United States.

“Important conversations about gender continue to be at the forefront of culture, and we strongly believe there is no better time than now to introduce our Jane Walker icon and contribute to pioneering organizations that share our mission,” Jacoby told AdWeek. “We are proud to toast the many achievements of women and everyone on the journey toward progress in gender equality.”

Now that is a message women everywhere can get down with. But, like Doritos, Bic lady pens, women’s-only beer, earplugs, and hammers made “just for women,” this idea was truly the best of intentions gone wrong.

In the future perhaps Johnnie Walker can bring its badass Brazilian ads to America, in which women are the star of the show. Or take a page out of Jim Beam’s book by having women like Mila Kunis star in your ads as a scotch-drinking woman.

As Minnick predicted way back in 2014, “Women ruled this industry in the past and probably will in the future.” Though, hopefully, those women can do it without having to slap a label on it first. Women like what you’re doing by supporting important causes;just don’t say we’re intimidated by your drink. Now pour us a dram and let’s discuss.

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