Popular meme page NS Beer Memes was recently threatened with legal action by Nine Locks Brewery over their efforts to draw attention to Nine Lock’s Dirty Blonde marketing campaign.
Originally released in 2016, the Dirty Blonde Ale can be seen on billboards and advertisements around the Halifax area, along with the slogan: “Everybody Loves a Dirty Blonde from Dartmouth.” Other slogans include “Have a Blonde Moment” and “Find a Blonde Near You.”
Recently voted as ‘Best Craft Brewery’ by The Coast, the Nine Locks campaign has been under fire on popular social media platforms: Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter. Users have been demanding the brewery ‘do better’ and delete the campaign altogether, due to its suggestively misogynistic messaging and perpetuation of negative stereotypes.
In addition to Nine Locks Brewery, the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia (CBANS) was recently brought to task over Twitter by one user who asked the organization to include Nine Locks in their policy ban against discriminatory and sexist marketing. The association responded by asking how they would ‘ban marketing’ in the first place, which has social media users demanding that CBANS condemn Nine Lock’s Dirty Blonde marketing campaign and apologize for their lack of accountability in handling public outrage.
Many have accused NS Beer Memes and their following of perpetuating ‘cancel culture,’ a term used to describe the ease in which social media users can eliminate or ‘cancel’ an individual or organization. Cancel culture is often associated with ignorance and lack of information, as reliable sources can be difficult to sort through on social media-based platforms.
Haligonians who remember the now-dated billboards are asking protestors why the sudden demand for reapproval, given the three-year gap between when the campaign was originally released and now. One user was quoted saying, “I think just people are figuring out they have the power to speak out about things that upset/offend them.”
In the age of social media, everyone has the ability to confront organizations and raise accusations that may or may not be founded. The results have led to men and women losing their careers, and the closure of entire organizations.
Some argue that our culture of self promotion and demand for corporate accountability is conducive to more honest organizations, while others claim that we’re promoting an unhealthy agenda of false allegations against hard-working individuals. Either way, Nine Locks has no choice now but to take these allegations seriously and deliver a statement worthy of the attention their campaigned has received, least they be cancelled.
Symmetry, Editor
