Sex is a pretty stale way to sell suds

Beer, babes, bikinis -- yawn

"Watching the new batch of beer commercials this spring, one has to wonder two things: First, did Labatt and Molson hire a bunch of Viagra-popping 23-year-olds to create this stuff? And second, are Canada's big brewers getting desperate?
It sure looks that way, given how female body parts and sophomoric sex jokes have come to dominate beer advertising.Beer and boobs go way back, of course, but the current crop of idiotic ads gives new meaning to the word gratuitous.Consider the "Less is More" campaign for Labatt Blue Light, in which a fashion designer wants to save money by using less fabric. The premise is almost as flimsy as the tiny tube top worn by the busty woman who is the real focus of the ad.
Then there are Molson's Bubba spots, in which women serve as props and punchlines for the antics of a group of morons.
Example: Some goofball is playing an organ while an attractive female holds the sheet music. At the end of the spot, he motions for her to lower the songbook so he can get a better look at her breasts.
Those ads are models of restraint compared with Molson's new campaign -- launched yesterday -- for its Brazilian import, A Marca Bavaria.
In the first of two Bavaria ads, Brazilian women wearing skimpy bathing suits and Carnaval costumes frolic on the beach and dance floor and -- unable to control themselves -- throw themselves at Brazilian men. There are plenty of lingering camera shots of nearly naked bums and bare midriffs.
But the second ad takes objectification to new extremes. As two guys relax on a beach, a bikini-clad woman appears from the water, Halle Berry style. One guy reaches into a bucket and pulls out a Bavaria. As he turns the bottle around, the woman turns as well -- as if under his command -- giving the camera a 360-degree tour of her anatomy.
The guy tilts the bottle on its side, prompting the woman to get down on all fours before lying on her stomach. Finally, as he peels off the bottle's label, she stands up again and undoes the string on her bikini bottoms. If Molson's Bavaria experiment fails, it may have a future in soft-core porn."

(JOHN HEINZL Globe and Mail Friday, May 9, 2003 - Page B10.)

When brewers are resorting to sexual imagery, it can be a sign of desperation especially if all the competition is using it. No one stands out. Sometimes it's a trend and agencies say they are giving the consumer what they want. What do you think?