Running head: THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
The Most Interesting Man in the World Campaign:
A Female Focus Group’s Perspective on Beer Advertisements
Erica Hernandez, Juliana Ravally, Celeste Roberge and Marissa Sturm
December 17, 2013
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
2 I. Abstract
Dos Equis is the fastest growing Mexican beer in the United States and currently has a marketing
campaign, “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” which is built on an extraordinary character
who promotes the brand to the typical male beer drinker. Unfortunately, these efforts have
neglected the twenty percent of women who enjoy drinking beer and have caused controversy
amongst the female population. We conducted a focus group to determine what factors women
believe are sexist in beer advertisements and what steps can be taken to change women’s
attitudes towards beer brands overall. The three themes we found through our research are
gender roles and their effects on beer advertisements, the desensitization of sexualized women in
advertisements, and the role and expectations of women in beer advertisements.
II. Introduction
We addressed two research questions during our focus group. Our first research question
was: what are women’s reactions towards beer advertisements? The second research question
was: how do women feel about the portrayal of females in beer advertisements? These questions
are relevant to Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World Campaign and their seeming
disregard for a market that has potential to be interested in the brand. The company has included
misogynistic language and attitudes in its past advertisements, as well as sexual references that
negatively affects the female population today. Mutineer Magazine explained that, “The
campaign’s central character has become the alpha male of this generation through his anecdotes
of gentleman’s wisdom and times stories of chivalry and adventure, transcending beverage
culture and earning a well-deserved place within the mainstream popular culture of the U.S. and
beyond,” (2010). The focus on this alpha male consumer alienates the female population and
ignores the market potential of a reported 20 percent of women who drink beer. With our
research questions we were able to determine if beer advertisements alienate women and how
women would like to be portrayed in the advertisements.
Through our research, we obtained valuable information on the perception of the Dos
Equis brand. We observed reactions to multiple beer brand advertisements and compared
women’s feelings and perspectives with the content in the advertisements. Providing Dos Equis
with the type of advertisements that will persuade women to purchase a beer, or enjoy a brand,
will assist with opening a new market for the brand. Additionally, we can provide Dos Equis
with information on how women perceive the female role in their beer commercials.
With the research we drew on the feminist theory, which analyzes the status of women
and men in society with the purpose of bettering women’s lives, we became aware of gender
differences, gender inequality, gender oppression, and structural oppression. Specifically we
were able to determine how women felt about how they are portrayed concerning body image
and role in the commercials. Additionally, we drew on the Uses and Gratifications Theory. This
theory attempts to explain why people search for specific media to satisfy specific needs. We
drew on this theory in our research and allowed it to assist us in defining why women want to be
portrayed in certain ways in the beer advertisements.
III. Method
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
3 We used two focus groups to come to our conclusions about the female perspective on
the portrayal of women in beer advertising. According to a study done by George J. Szybillo and
Robert Berber, focus groups were found to have four main functions in relation to advertising:
creative, evaluative, consultative and research (Szybillo & Berber, 1979). Under this umbrella of
terms are evaluations of product concepts and rough advertisements (Szybillo & Berber, 1979).
We used focus groups for this purpose. Our focus group evaluated the advertisements we
presented them and how they felt about the advertisements.
The sample we used for this study was college-aged women who attended The
Pennsylvania State University. We chose this as our sampling frame because people tend to
consume more alcohol in college than at any other time in their life. To decide which women
would participate in our study, we compiled an alphabetical list of women, ages 18 to 23 years
old, who had already expressed an interest in participating in the study. On this list we assigned
each person a number. We then used http://www.random.org/ to assign people to either focus
group #1 or focus group #2. Because of availability constraints, we were only able to get seven
participants for focus group #1 and six participants for focus group #2.
Our focus groups were held in a Penn State Knowledge Commons room, where we
showed the selected advertisements on a television. Before showing the advertisements, the
moderators asked the participants questions about their opinion on female drinking trends. These
questions included, “Do you think women choose their beer based on calories,” and, “What
factors or qualities determine what beer you drink?” We encouraged open discussion and gave
everyone who wanted to speak a chance to.
We then showed the participants 10 beer advertisements, two at a time. They were grouped
together by the beer brand. After the ads were shown, participants were asked questions about
their feelings toward the ads and the role of women in the ad. Questions included, “Who is in
charge in these commercials,” and, “How did this advertisement make you feel?” Participants
were also asked questions about the roles of women in all the commercials and if the commercial
would influence what beer brand they buy.
After the advertisements were shown, we encouraged free discussion and asked participants to
share their overall thoughts of women in beer advertising and how they would feel less isolated
by the beer industry.
IV. Results
After analyzing the transcripts of our focus groups, we have identified three themes,
which are consistent with our research questions. The themes are traditional gender roles and
their effects on beer advertisements, the desensitization of sexualized women in advertisements,
and the expectations of women in beer advertisements. Specific monologues from the focus
groups support these themes and provide persuasion.
i. Gender Roles
Traditional gender roles have many effects on what gets put into advertisements. We
identified that the traditional stereotype of a woman plays a big part in what women think they
should be drinking. Additionally we found that women are expected to be the ones serving the
beer in both commercials and in real life. Frustration was expressed when a woman was
portrayed as a robot serving beer, but our participants were never actually offended by the
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
4 advertisements. Our participants came to the conclusion that the culture of the drinking world
drives men to like beer more than women, leading advertisers to focus their advertisements on
men and not women. There was frustration in reaction to some of the ads. Although the ads may
have frustrated them, the participants were only truly offended when the commercial had women
who were highly sexualized; for example, the Heineken and Miller Light commercials. The
following monologues and dialogues exemplify the existence of this theme in our focus groups.
Focus Group 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: Yup, that’s advertising. Why do you think beer companies primarily advertise to men?
Claudia: Just because men are primarily the beer drinkers.
Patricia: What you see is men watching football drinking beer.
Alexa: It’s like a manly kind of thing.
Katie: It’s like manly or something.
Erica: How do you guys feel about that?
Alexa: I mean, I just know in my family my mom is the one that drinks the wine and my dad is
the one who drinks the beer. It is like a known thing and like I go out and I see my parents and
their friends it is just established I think that is mostly how it goes I think. Not that it’s like out of
the norm, but if you are out usually women tend to not order beer because it is seen to be more
masculine.
Claudia: Also, I feel like when you go to tailgates and stuff, and you are drinking beer because
that is what is there and you feel like one of the boys, I guess that can be kind of uncomfortable.
Like you don’t feel like you are feminine if you are drinking beers at a tailgate or somewhere
like that. You feel like a bro.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: Why did you guys, your reaction right after was, “That was weird.” What made it
[Heineken] weird?
Patricia: The whole idea of it. Like I don’t get the whole robotic thing.
Erica: What do you think the idea of the commercial was?
Claudia: Well it kind of made me mad. Like woman are robots are they were made to serve men
beer. That is what they do.
Emma: I wonder if the point was supposed to be that the new can was futuristic or something but
it did come off as more offensive than your average beer commercial.
Katie: If a guy was doing that weird dance it would be even creepier though.
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Focus Group 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: Were you frustrated with these [Heineken] advertisements and their portrayal of women?
All participants: Yeah
Erica: Why?
Sarah: Well the first one… The robots represented women as mindless people who are only there
to serve so that pissed me off. And then the second one is making fun of women for their lives
and their stereotypical likes. When the men were screaming it was like they were trying to one
up them by being ridiculous over the beer in the closet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: Were you frustrated by either of the [Miller Light] advertisements?
Melissa: Yes, both of them. I was frustrated more by the 2nd one. They are sexualizing the beer
bottle and comparing it to women.
Sarah: I didn’t really like the first one because although she was dressed more properly, the
things she is saying are only geared towards men. I like that kind of beer and I like to talk smack
to other people. I like sports. Why can’t I be part of that? And then at the end she says “Good
luck guys” and it’s not fair. Come on, boost me too!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ii. Desensitization of Sexualized Women in Advertisements
Throughout our focus groups we found that our participants became frustrated, and
sometimes offended, by the sexualization of women in the commercials we showed. Although
this frustration was strong, as with the previous theme, again we noticed that the participants
accepted this as a reality of society. Throughout the discussions of our participants, there were
many contradicting statements. They stated their frustration with the sexualization, but claimed
the commercials weren’t too offensive, and instead sometimes found them to be funny. There
was also a lack of frustration from a majority of the participants about not being targeted for beer
advertising. We concluded that our participants are comfortable with how the advertisements
exclude them, but felt uncomfortable with the way they were sexualized in them. We also
concluded that our participants justified this sexualization in the commercials by deeming them
part of today’s culture. They view it as acceptable because they feel desensitized to the
sexualization of women in advertising, and in our media in general. The following monologues
and dialogues exemplify the existence of this theme we found in our focus groups.
Focus Group 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: How did it [Heineken] make you guys feel?
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
6 Claudia: It was very isolating. I felt like it distinctly said women won’t care about this and it was
only targeted towards men.
Emma: See I got a little, I felt a little isolated when first saw them getting all excited about shoes
because that’s a stupid stereotype, but then when I saw them do the same thing to the guys I was
like, “Oh I love it!”
Katie: And it was kind of a girly reaction to so they tried to make it like …
Emma: Yeah the guys looked even stupider.
Katie: Yeah, because it shows that guys get that excited over beer. We don’t, but I don’t know.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: Is there anything you want to discuss with each other?
Katie: Something that I think is interesting, just something that I was thinking of before was how
most people know that if they put a sexist commercial that highlighted guys that girls wouldn’t
really care because guys are the ones who care; and if they make a commercial about girls, guys
would be like, “That’s gay. I am not drinking that.” They are the ones who actually care about
the opposite sex because they will not feel masculine, but girls don’t really have an issue with
that and will drink it anyway. That’s why I think its more geared toward men because men won’t
drink it and they are probably the biggest people who do drink it. It makes sense to market it that
way.
Emma: I think women are most desensitized to that.
Katie: That’s true too.
Julie: So do you think beer sales would change positively or negatively if advertisements went
more towards women in general?
Katie: It would definitely be negative.
Emily: I don’t think it would change.
Julie: I think it depends on if it’s a new kind of beer or one already
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Focus Group 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: How does the ad [Dos Equis] make you feel?
Kaitlin: I kind of want to be his friend.
Sarah: I thought it was funny.
Melissa: Yeah I thought it was funny too. It was clever.
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------iii. Expectations of Women in Beer Advertisements
The last theme we noticed throughout our focus group is the expectations of women in
beer advertisements. The theme about gender roles expressed that women are expected to be the
ones serving the beer, typically in scantily clad outfits. Our third theme explains that women also
become frustrated when they aren’t being portrayed in the advertisement as a main character,
even if it is not following a stereotypical gender role. Women’s roles in beer advertisements are
considered to be absent and this frustrated our participants. When the role of the women in the
advertisements was relatable, for example in the Corona ads, our participants reacted positively
to the beer and the advertisement. When the role of the woman in the advertisement was present,
even if they were just in the background enjoying a beer, our participants found them to be more
enjoyable and positive. We have concluded that if women were portrayed in beer advertisements
as enjoying the beer, the advertisements would be received better. The following monologues
and dialogues exemplify the existence of this theme we found in our focus groups.
Focus Group 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: Would you share these advertisements [Corona] with your friends?
Emma: Yeah.
Claudia: Maybe, yeah.
Juliana: Emma, why would this one out of all of them convince you to try something different?
Emma: I don’t know. I don’t know if it was because it was directed more towards me. I don’t
know. Um, I don’t know. I kind of like the “beachy” scene.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: And what was the role of women in each commercial [Bud Light]?
Katie: I feel like they were a part of everything.
Alexa: I didn’t they weren’t as sexualized compared to the other ads. The first one I liked I think
because it got the main point across that he was willing to do anything to get that beer. And then
to obviously get draw the male audience they had to do something to like induce them. So they
tied her in the bikini, but other than that it wasn’t as offensive as the other ones.
Patricia: They were like off to the side, they were a part of, like you saw one in the beginning
and the middle scene and stuff, they were just off to the side. But they were included.
Katie: And they weren’t like sexual.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Emily: Even the Corona commercial like it was even more targeted towards women than men
because it made the woman feel powerful.
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
8 Juliana: You guys were saying before how beer is for men and wine is for women, do you think
that would change if more women were in the advertising?
Julie: Maybe.
Marissa: Like for the Bud Light one, the last one that you said you saw women in two or three
scenes, do you think if there was one more person, women in each scene, or one more female in
each scene, if they incorporated women in their advertisements, would it change your opinion of
some of the brands?
Julie: It’s hard to say.
Alexa: In a lot of the advertisements, other than that one Corona one, the women were like
selling the alcohol. I think if they wanted to target women, to just have like a casual environment
where they are physically holding the beer. Like even the Corona one, it was right next to her,
like yeah she was drinking it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Focus Group 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Erica: How do you feel about drinks that are created for women? Like Bud Light Lime or
Limerita?
Kaitlin: I actually don’t like them as much. With the exception of the Bud Light Lime. I don’t
even drink Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
Sarah: I think for women in general these drinks are ok to be geared towards women. Women
have a sweeter taste; it is scientifically proven. We like sweeter things more than men do so I
think that’s fine if they advertise to women. But if they make it a sexual thing, then it is not ok.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------V. Discussion
We learned from our research that women’s reactions towards beer advertisements were
mixed, but ultimately our participants were surprisingly less bothered by the content than we
anticipated. Women, while able to pinpoint the sexism in the advertisements, overwhelmingly
seemed to either be indifferent or enjoy the humor of the advertisements. They were aware of the
frequent portrayal of women as sexual objects or subservient to the men in the commercials,
however, did not seem particularly offended. We did learn that women respond more positively
to advertisements where the female characters are relatable or not objectified. This research is
significant because it implies that brands should alter their portrayal of women in a more positive
light if they are hoping to connect to a female market. To help open their market to female
consumers, beer commercials should depict women enjoying the beer and participating, rather
than filling the role of server.
VI. Recommendations for Client
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
9 As a beer with rapidly growing popularity and an increasing following among beerdrinkers, Dos Equis has multiple societal and technological opportunities to expand their brand.
Since the brand has significant grown via social media, Dos Equis can continue its presence on
Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites to further the company’s popularity on
multiple media platforms. If Dos Equis can engage the public and offer them numerous ways to
participate in their campaign efforts, they will increase their brand awareness and gain popularity
across various target markets.
“The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign has prompted countless opportunities
for Dos Equis to succeed in its brand awareness but there has been controversy over the
misogynistic and sexist messages found in several of their advertisements. The focus on this
masculine icon has made its advertisements steer away from promoting their products to the
female population. Dos Equis could support feminist opinions by including the presence of
women either drinking or enjoying the beer rather than the stereotypical role of the server and
sex symbol. If Dos Equis chooses to open their market to women, the role of women in the
advertisements must be relatable because women wish to connect with the featured women and
see their gender portrayed in a positive light at all times.
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD CAMPAIGN
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