Gendered marketing on takeaway alcohol products in Australia: A semiotic analysis of advertising to women

Alcohol companies invest heavily in marketing to shape consumer perceptions of what drinking means in social contexts. An international literature documents the way gendered expectations and associations are used in marketing campaigns to encourage women to drink alcohol. Our paper contributes new insight about gendered marketing on takeaway products in alcohol retail outlets with a particular focus on gendered affective (feeling) expectations and fills a knowledge gap regarding the Australian context. We applied semiotics to explore strategies used to 'feminise' alcohol marketing, by photographing takeaway products for sale in retail outlets (10 department and boutique liquor outlets). After removing duplicate products (n = 54); text, images and features were reviewed for icons or symbols of stereotypical femininity (n = 145 excluded). The remaining products (n = 473) were coded and analysed using feminist literature on affect to facilitate interpretations of what alcohol was signified to 'stand in for' in women's lives amidst shared gendered expectations. Strategies used to feminise alcohol products included 'pinking' them (i.e. a hibiscus sour called 'the pinkening'), making them purple, glittery or floral, and including women's names and bodies or gendered social roles (e.g. cooking) and symbols (e.g. engagement ring). Affective significations discernible on feminised products were that alcohol could enable feelings of wellness and balance; cultivate strength, resilience and confidence; and blur temporal boundaries to facilitate 'drift' away from everyday life and associated pressures. Our work contributes a theory-informed exploration of how women's gendered experiences are used as an opening to market alcohol to women for its affective potential amidst gendered oppressions, values, and priorities. We draw from semiotics to make recommendations towards gender-responsive regulation of alcohol marketing in Australia, that restricts how gendered affective expectations can be used as architecture to nudge consumer choices towards drinking.