Download AN ANALYSIS OF AUSTRALIAN BEER

AN ANALYSIS OF AUSTRALIAN BEER ADVERTISEMENTS
Simone Pettigrew
Edith Cowan University
Abstract
This paper examines Australian beer television advertising to gain insight into the cultural
relevance of beer as a consumption product within Australian culture. Initially, an
international study of beer advertising is profiled, followed by an analysis of some of the beer
advertisements that have been screened on Australian television over the last thirty years.
These two analyses are then compared to identify the similarities and differences in content
and presentation between Australian and international beer advertisements. While the study
found that there are strong similarities between Australian beer advertisements and those aired
in other Western nations, there are distinct differences in the way Australians portray the act
of beer consumption.
Introduction
The ways in which beer is promoted provide indicators of its cultural meanings. Caillat and
Mueller (1996) note that alcohol advertisements communicate attitudes to drinking within a
culture, particularly attitudes concerning appropriate times and places for alcohol
consumption. This paper examines Australian beer advertising to gain insight into the cultural
relevance of beer as a consumption product within Australian culture. Initially, an
international study of beer advertising is profiled, followed by an analysis of some of the beer
advertisements that have been screened on Australian television over the last thirty years.
These two analyses are then compared to identify the similarities and differences in content
and presentation between Australian and international beer advertisements.
International Beer Advertisement Studies
Domzal and Kernan (1992) conducted an international study of advertisements for products
across four product categories to identify the relevant meaning exemplars contained within
them. Meaning exemplars are the common elements of meaning found across the majority of
advertisements for each product type. They represent the signs (the dominant elements of the
advertisement, consisting of signifiers and signifieds) and structure (the ways in which these
meanings relate to one another within the advertisement) of typical advertisements in the
particular product area (Domzal and Kernan 1992). While only non-Australian beer
advertisements were included in the sample, the results of the study provide a comparison
point for the following analysis of Australian beer advertisements. The four exemplars found
by Domzal and Kernan to apply to beer advertising were nutrition, dynamism, activity, and
status. Briefly, nutrition refers to ingredients and brewing style, dynamism is the physical
characteristics of the beer (e.g., foamy), activity relates to the social environment in which
beer is consumed, and status refers to the use of premium brands to segment the beer market.
They concluded that consumers world-wide have established a deep-seated understanding of
the product category of beer. They suggest that the comprehension of beer as a product
category is socially acquired via direct or observed consumption, while knowledge of
particular brands is derived almost entirely from the efforts of advertisers.
Domzal and Kernan (1992) found that the 61 beer advertisements from the seven countries
sampled largely followed a prescribed sequence of events. They usually attempted to
associate the brand with one of either two notable features, quality or uniqueness. The beer
container itself, whether a bottle, can or glass, was usually the predominant visual feature of
the advertisement. The personality of the brand was inferred by those pictured drinking it,
rather than explicitly stated. Other common themes included beer as a reward, and beer
drinking as a sociable pastime. The way in which the beer is brewed was often mentioned in
the advertisements, with the manufacturing process described as a traditional art form, “never
as a science which can be copied or improved” (Domzal and Kernan 1992, p. 53).
Advertisements usually depicted group consumption scenes, often involving considerable
noise and movement. This feature was also noted by Caillat and Mueller (1996) and Parker
(1998) in their studies of American and British beer advertisements.
Overall, Domzal and Kernan (1992) found that although advertisements for beer are many
and varied across a range of countries, the themes employed are usually within the parameters
of the commonly accepted meanings of beer. In other words, advertisers rarely attempt to
attach completely new meanings to the product, preferring the relative safety of tried and
tested meanings. Similar results were found by Parker (1998) and Caillat and Mueller (1996)
in their smaller-scale studies. This finding sits in opposition to McCracken’s (1990, p.7)
assertion that “Advertising is so powerful that virtually any product can be made to ‘take’
virtually any meaning”. Domzal and Kernan suggest that the tendency among beer advertisers
to confine the symbolism employed to accepted cultural meanings is representative of the
difficulties associated with assigning new meanings to existing products. They therefore
recommend that marketers accurately represent the core cultural meanings associated with the
product category, prior to establishing the individual personality of the particular brand.
Australian Beer Advertisements
Alcohol plays a major role in Australian stereotypes, with beer being particularly associated
with the Australian lifestyle (Fiske, Hodge, and Turner 1987). The perceived connection
between Australians and beer is not misplaced, as Australians are the ninth largest per capita
consumers of beer in the world (Productschap Voor Gedistilleerde Dranken 1997). In
Australia, beer consumption has been suggested to communicate the social categories of
gender (Conway 1985; Horne 1988), age (Fiske et al. 1987), and social class (Horne 1988).
The association with masculinity has been particularly noted (King 1978), although this
association is also common in other Western societies (Gough and Edwards 1998). Beer has
long had particular relevance for the working man in societies with British origins (Barr
1995), and this is especially the case in Australia where the population was originally based
on the lower classes of British nations (Mackay 1989; Morse and Marks 1985).
In order to compare the themes identified in Domzal and Kernan’s study with the content of
Australian beer advertisements, the video archives of Carlton United Brewery (CUB) and
Lion Nathan were accessed to obtain a range of Australian beer advertisements that span more
than thirty years. The oldest advertisement was a black and white ad that was not datemarked, although the brewery management estimated that it was produced in the 1960s.
Unfortunately, many of the other archived advertisements were also not date-marked.
However, the majority of the advertisements examined were produced and aired within the
last five to ten years. In total, 72 advertisements were examined to identify common themes in
both visual and audio content. As the advertisements were viewed, the major and minor
themes present were recorded. Once all the advertisements had been viewed, the various
themes were documented and analysed for frequency and extent of representation. The
dominant themes were found to be extremes in temperature, hard work, the physical
characteristics of the product or its packaging, mateship/socialising, sport, and pubs. Each of
these themes is discussed below.
Many Australian beer advertisements draw a distinct contrast between hot and cold
temperatures. The environment and the drinker are usually depicted as very hot, compared to
the icy cold beer. This often includes outback scenes, where the heat rising from the ground
provides the backdrop for the sweaty farmer/bushman who is in dire need of a cold beverage
(e.g., a Fosters Light advertisement that depicts a farmer who cannot call his sheepdog as he
has lost his whistle in the dry, dusty conditions). Another variation is the dripping factory
worker, miner, or tradesman who has obviously been working in a very hot environment.
Tooheys Draft and Victoria Bitter (VB) advertisements have long used these types of images.
Beer is depicted as the perfect solution to the physical effort of strenuous work, as well as to
the arid conditions of the Australian continent.
These scenes of hard work in beer advertisements extend to include sport. The cricketer (e.g.,
Swan Gold and Tooheys Draught advertisements), footballer (e.g., Carlton Draught, Emu
Export, VB, and Tooheys Draught advertisements), fisherman (e.g., VB and Tooheys Red
advertisements), skier (e.g., Fosters Light Ice advertisements), parachutist (e.g., Fosters Light
Ice advertisements), kayaker (e.g., Fosters Light Ice advertisements), and boxer (e.g.,
Diamond Draft advertisements) have each been portrayed in different Australian beer
advertisements. They all appear to require the cooling refreshment that only beer can provide.
The inclusion of a sport theme in advertisements serves to simultaneously communicate the
social function of beer, as well as the reward for hard work theme. Most of these sports
involve extensive interaction with others, or they are at least depicted as such in the
advertisements in which they are profiled. Other mateship scenes are also very common, such
as males socialising in pubs, at parties, and in front of television sets (although they are
usually viewing sport at the time).
The pub is a popular theme in Australian beer advertisements, although more so among the
brands targeted at older drinkers. There is a friendly ambience to the pub as depicted in the
advertisements. Everyone is smiling, and there is a throb of happy voices in the background
(e.g., Carlton Draught, Tooheys Blue, Tooheys Draught, and Emu Export advertisements).
Recently launched brands tend to focus more on non-pub drinking, particularly at parties
(e.g., Hahn Ice and Carlton Cold advertisements). This reflects the tendency for younger
drinkers to consume beer in a greater range of locations than older drinkers (Health
Department of Western Australia 1997). Where pubs are depicted, they are often dimly lit,
with a predominantly male clientele. The barmaid is usually the only female present, and she
is never drinking beer herself (e.g., the Tooheys Blue advertisement that features a busty
blonde barmaid who is dressed in a low-cut top and is called “love” by the patrons). Where
any other females are present (usually only in advertisements depicting parties rather than pub
scenes), they may be holding a glass or bottle of beer, but they do not actually drink from it
(e.g., the Matilda Bay advertisement that shows middle class men and women spending a
sunny afternoon drinking by the side of a river).
Close-up images of the glass or bottle are another common theme (e.g., Crown Lager, Emu
Draft, and Swan Gold advertisements). In the older advertisements, the focus is often on the
head of the beer flowing down the side of the over-filled glass. In more recent advertisements,
the bottle takes priority. Labels are strategically held so that the brand name is evident while
the drinker raises the bottle to his mouth. Seen in profile, the drinker tilts back his head and
appears to take in large quantities of the beverage (e.g., Fosters Light Ice advertisements).
Some recent advertisements do not feature any people, instead focusing entirely on the
product and its packaging. This approach is less frequent than the traditional portrayal of
mates congregated to drink beer, and it tends to be confined to shorter advertising campaigns
that are aimed at younger or more affluent target markets (e.g., the Carlton Cold
advertisements that show beer flowing through icy pipes).
Humour is a favoured appeal used in beer advertisements, particularly those aimed at younger
drinkers. The main characters in the advertisements are often laughing at others, or
occasionally at themselves (e.g., the Tooheys Red advertisements that depict German tourists
experiencing problems ordering a round of beers because of language difficulties). They
occasionally undertake extraordinary sporting feats, which are amusing in their extremeness
(e.g., the Fosters Light Ice advertisements). In the majority of advertisements examined, the
only people present were Anglo-Saxon males who appeared to be either working or middle
class. Over time, the males depicted in beer advertisements have become better dressed, with
the historical focus on the working class drinker changing to also favour the suited middle
class male. However, some brands continue to depict only working class males, as their
product is specifically targeted to this market (e.g., Emu Draft).
Some advertisements combine numerous themes in a single commercial. For example, a
Fosters Light Ice advertisement shows two men skiing together, taking on dizzy heights in
their skiing adventure. One of the two men comes crashing down through the roof of a pub
and lands standing at the bar. He asks for a Fosters Light Ice, from which the viewer sees him
drink thirstily in profile, with the label clearly apparent. He then asks the barman to get
another, and looks to the ceiling anticipating the arrival of his mate. This advertisement
includes the themes of mateship, sport, the pub, Anglo-Saxon males, humour, profiling the
bottle, and extreme exertion coupled with icy beer in an icy environment. Another example of
a multi-theme advertisement is a Tooheys Draught advertisement that depicts a group of
Anglo-Saxon males in a pub watching a football game on the television suspended above the
bar. One of the drinkers envisages himself actually playing in the game and kicking the
winning goal. The advertisement therefore combines sport spectating, sport participation, a
pub scene, mates, and physical exertion.
As per Domzal and Kernan’s findings, Australian beer marketers appear to have experienced
the need to restrict advertising content to accepted cultural meanings, resulting in very
consistent beer advertising themes over recent decades. Radical advertising campaigns have
historically failed, forcing brewers to revert to campaigns that are only slightly different from
their traditional approaches to the market (Burbury 1998; Mackay 1989). The themes
identified in Australian beer advertisements parallel several characteristics of mainstream
Australian culture. The pub and sport themes of the advertisements cross easily into real
Australian lifestyles (Fiske et al. 1987; King 1978). The focus on Anglo-Saxon Australians is
also typical of the way in which Aboriginals and migrants have been neglected in depictions
of Australian culture (Graetz and McAllister 1988; White 1979). The representation of
drinkers as males reflects the dominance of the male stereotype and the almost non-existent
female stereotype (Conway 1985). Also, the heavy use of leisure scenes is parallel to the
Australian emphasis on leisure time over work time (Horne 1988; Mackay 1993).
Conclusions
Of Domzal and Kernan’s (1992) four meaning exemplars (nutrition, dynamism, activity, and
status), activity and status are especially pertinent to Australian beer advertisements. Activity
relates to social interaction with friends, while status refers to the association with a particular
type of drinker. Nutrition (including quality of ingredients) and dynamism (the effervescent
nature of beer) are also relevant, although they are less frequently represented. The other main
similarities between Australian and international advertisements include reference to the
brewing process, beer being positioned as a reward for effort, the communication of brand
personality through the selection of appropriate drinkers, and the specific targeting of
different social classes via different scenes and actors.
The frequent focus in Australian advertisements on beer packaging (mainly bottles) is also
consistent with Domzal and Kernan’s findings, although the social aspects of beer
consumption are dominant in Australian advertisements while the container was found to be
the primary feature of the international advertisements. The primacy of the social environment
in Australian beer advertisements is not surprising given the social role of beer consumption
in Australian culture. The emphasis on mateship and solidarity (Feather 1986; Morse and
Marks 1985) promotes a drinking culture in which communal beer consumption among males
is a primary element in the rite of passage into manhood (Bedwell 1992). Once initiated,
continued group consumption is required to maintain the status of being a “man” (Horne
1988; King 1978). These cultural requirements are translated into the male-dominated group
images that form the basis of so many Australian beer advertisements.
Compared to the international advertisements, the Australian advertisements exhibit a high
incidence of sport themes and humour appeals. These elements were not specifically noted as
salient in the Domzal and Kernan study, but are very characteristic of the Australian
advertisements. While activity as a category was frequently apparent in the international ads,
the particular emphasis on sporting activities is especially pronounced in the Australian
advertisements. Humour has also been identified as a common theme in British beer
advertisements by Caillat and Mueller (1996). This similarity between Australian and British
advertising themes is not surprising given Australia’s settlement history. The cultural
similarities deriving from a common heritage appear to have translated into a preference for
similar advertising themes.
To conclude, Australian beer advertisements share similarities with those of other countries.
There are, however, some distinct differences that can be attributed to the nature of Australian
culture. In order for advertisements to be effective, Domzal and Kernan emphasise the
importance of using culturally appropriate messages and themes. Australian brewers have
recognised this, and have largely constrained their advertising messages to those that employ
cultural meanings that are widely accepted as relating to beer consumption. As a result,
Australian beer advertisements exhibit a heavy focus on social consumption, beer as a reward
for hard work, humour appeals, sporting images, and all-male drinking scenes. Future
research could compare these themes to those found in other Australian advertisements to
provide a more detailed picture of Australian culture as communicated through advertising.
Also, analyses of advertisements that cross product boundaries could further investigate the
gap between McCracken’s (1990) belief in the power of advertising to create new cultural
meanings and Domzal and Kernan’s finding that advertisers typically comply with accepted
meanings in their attempts to create effective advertisements.
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