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Emma C Bissonnette
24 September 2010
FemBots
In 2006, Heineken debuted its DraughtKeg, a five liter beer keg with an internal carbon dioxide
compressor. The DraughtKeg is compact, simple to operate, requires no pumping between pours, and
allegedly remains fresh for 30 days, if it really takes drinkers that long to polish off ten 1-pint glasses
(Sofge). Heineken depicted a robot woman, or FemBot, to advertise the keg on television. In their
commercial, a tall, curvaceous, robot woman mechanically steps onto a green stage to pulsing
electronic music. She has cropped and permed platinum blond hair and a pleated mini-dress,
throwbacks to flapper-style women. However, her automated walk and milky-green skin indicate she is
a woman of the future. She looks up and smiles, and a DraughtKeg emerges from her abdomen. The
FemBot sprouts another set of robotic arms with which she pours a perfectly cold, foamy glass of beer.
Then she clones herself into three identical, beer-dispensing, hip-gyrating robot women. Sex appeal
has long been the standard in beer advertisements, but in their 2007 commercials Heineken markets a
modern keg with a modern woman: a FemBot.
By filling our screens in a digital green glow, our
speakers with an electronic soundtrack, and, most importantly, our eyes with a sexy FemBot, the
commercial, if it's not creeping us out, appeals to our senses both of novelty and of sex to sell the
DraughtKeg.
The green hue of the stage is first and foremost a reference to Heineken's traditional color
scheme and apple-green bottles. A green bottle stops some light particles, or photons, from entering the
bottle, which can break down hops molecules and impart a sulfur flavor to the beer. But most
importantly, the green bottle makes Heineken easily recognizable. When consumers see a greenwashed beer commercial, Heineken wants us to immediately identify the beer as theirs, and hopefully
go buy a DraughtKeg.
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The green hue serves more purposes than brand identity. A green-tinted image evokes thoughts
of computers and digital innovation. In the Matrix, for example, movie makers washed the screen in
green to distinguish the Matrix from the real world. The association we make between green hues and
digitization could stem from the colors of computers and early operating systems. The Matrix probably
obtained the green hue from the original DOS operating system color scheme: an unmistakably
identifiable black screen with bright green code. Furthermore, computer parts makers often coat
circuit boards and related parts in a green soldering mask. This association with technology implies
that the DraughtKeg is not simply a keg; it is expertly engineered, calibrated, and designed to execute
the perfect glass of beer. Because we need not pump between pours, pouring a glass of beer is as easy
as depressing a lever, or in the digital world, striking a key on a keyboard. Through color, this
emphasis on digital technology and innovation targets a young, hip, technology-savvy generation of
beer drinkers, probably ranging from college students with the latest Apple technology to people in
their 40s who might actually remember the green DOS display.
Heineken underscores their appeal to young drinkers with a completely electronic commercial
score. The FemBot moves mechanically with the beat to a song, which sounds oddly similar to 90's
Freezepop, about innovation:
Futuristic. Futuristic delivery system. DraughtKeg. Innovation. H-E-I-N-E-K-E-N.
Chill, cap, pop, snap, link, plug, lock, and tap. Fix, flex, grip, grab, tip, tap, sip and
swig. Pump, pour, gush, sink, drip, drain, draught, and drink. Innovative. DraughtKeg.
Heineken.
Although some electronic music fans are over the age of 30, the vast majority are the children of the
late 80s, when techno first emerged. This generation of people comprises the young, hip, computerproficient demographic of drinkers Heineken is targeting—young because of the recent birth of techno,
hip because of electronic music's current popularity, and computer-proficient because of the obvious
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electronic influence. If we buy a DraughtKeg, Heineken is suggesting, we can have hip, intimate
(because of the keg's small size) dance parties at our houses.
Daft Punk might be missing from the commercial, but sex is conspicuous. We need only search
for “beer ads” in an image search engine to conclude that attractive, curvaceous women, usually in a
bathing suit, are a pervasive advertising technique. Budweiser, we learn, has a particular knack for
depicting beautiful women beside its logo. But Heineken's FemBot does not resemble Budweiser's
long-haired heavily made-up women. This FemBot has bleached blond hair, but it is cropped and
styled with vintage pin curls. She's wearing significantly less makeup, and whit eyeliner she does have
has a “wing” or “tail” extending out past the eye. This style is reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor in
Cleopatra, but it is increasingly trendy on the runway and among chic, urban women. The FemBot's
simple, modern style distinguishes Heineken's target demographic: cool, sophisticated drinkers. These
drinkers include not only men who are attracted to her, but also women who identify with her. The
DraughtKeg probably resonates with fashionable women in their 20s and 30s, women who, like the
FemBot, own pleated minidresses (another major design trend), wedge heels, and liquid eyeliner.
These are not the same women who identify with Budweiser's beauty makeup-laden, bikini-wearing
beauty queens.
Although Heineken is aiming for a higher class of young drinkers, their FemBot targets young
men with the same fantasies of subservient women employed by other beer companies. Feminist
critics voiced immediate outrage not only with Heineken but with the increasing presence of female
androids in commercials including Svedka vodka ads and Phillips Moisture Shave System Ads.
Svedka features a shiny, feminine cyborg with brushed chrome stilettos and an even more extreme
bust-waist-hip ratio than Heineken's FemBot. Svedka, Annalee Newitz of AlterNet says, “cashes in on
the idea of making it with a big-breasted piece of metal.” Phillips' commercial for a men's electric
shaver employs a similar and remarkably waterproof FemBot with a razor built into her hand. Standing
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under a shower head with a half-naked man, she seductively shaves his face. Of these advertisements,
feminist publication Bitch Magazine says, “Advertisers are tapping into some of the most misogynistic
male fantasies when they use futuristic fembots to convince men to buy their products. They are selling
a fantasy of control by turning women into obedient, mute, homemaking, sex slaves.”
Social media commentators were particularly dismayed by Heineken's FemBot. Critics say she
is more than an attractive woman in a beer ad: she is mute and ready to serve cold beer at any
moment—truly a women created by and for men. Bob Garfield of Ad Age said, “So it is not out of
self-righteousness, but out of genuine astonishment that we castigate, denounce and generally hold up
to ridicule a new ad for the Heineken DraughtKeg that is arguably the most sexist beer commercial
ever produced.” The FemBot lacks reproductive organs, which is arguably appealing to men by itself.
Better yet, Garfield says, her womb is instead a keg. Despite these misgivings, beer companies—and
anyone selling anything— know that sex sells. Heineken's commercial is simply modern manifestation
of the same exploitation of attractive women to sell products, albeit a little creepier than usual.
Feminists might not be fans, but the commercial definitely reached its male targets. YouTube postings
of the ad describe an “android iron maiden” and a “hot fembot” delivering beer. “What would you give
if you had this robot serving you? :)” reads one comment. “The perfect woman,” says another. The
advertisement's controversiality makes it memorable. And the blogs and magazine articles decrying the
commercial arguably gave Heineken free publicity.
The DraughtKeg commercial targets fashionable, technology-proficient men and women in
their 20s and 30s. But from the design of the DraughtKeg itself and the design of the commercial, we
sense that Heineken is not targeting the serious beer aficionados among those people. For serious beer
geeks, part of the appeal in a keg are the hoses, pumps, carbon dioxide tanks, or distribution systems.
The DraughtKeg, which, according to Heineken, is a “futuristic beer delivery system,” lacks these
clunky components. Their keg is geared neither for people looking to customize the dispensing of their
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beer, e.g. by blending gases or keeping more than one beer on tap, nor for people looking for the
“kegging experience,” by connecting hoses or calculating the partial pressures of carbon dioxide or
nitrogen. The DraughtKeg is simply for young people who want to serve decent beer quickly and
easily, preferably to the beat of electronic dance music.
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Works Cited
Garfield, Bob. “Heineken 'DraftKeg': The Most Sexist Beer Commerical Ever Produced?”. Advertising
Age. 27 Aug. 2007. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://adage.com/adreview/post?article_id=120078>.
Heineken: Keg. 14 Aug. 2007. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNfrBgYIEQ>.
Newitz, Annalee. “Modern Bionic Woman, Retrograde Feminism”. AlterNet. 2 Oct. 2007. 24 Sept.
2010. <http://www.alternet.org/media/64187>.
Sarkeesian, Anita. “Mad World: Fembots, Advertising and Male Fantasy”. Bitch Magazine. 20 Apr.
2010. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://bitchmagazine.org/post/mad-world-fembots-advertising-and-malefantasy>.
Sofge, Erik. “Heineken DraughtKeg: The Perfect Pour, DIY Style”. Popular Mechanics. 29 May 2007.
24 Sept. 2010. <http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/4217337>.
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