Brewers warn ‘Dirty Blonde’ goes too far

Nearly 20 Nova Scotia breweries are urging the board of the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia to take steps to stop the “discriminatory and misogynistic” advertising campaign associated with Nine Lock’s Dirty Blonde Beer.

In a story which broke on CBC News and Canadian Beer News, pub staff, consumers, and others are objecting to the beer’s name and its advertising campaign which has appeared on billboards, T-shirts, and social media with slogans such as: “Everybody loves a dirty blonde from Dartmouth.”

Shaun O’Hearn, president of Nine Locks, said the advertising is “cheeky,” but he doesn’t agree it’s sexist or misogynistic. But he said if people are offended by the advertising, he apologizes.

“It was never our intention to insult anyone,” said O’Hearn in a phone interview with CBC. “We’re taking what people are saying and because we don’t want to insult anybody with any of our advertisements, we’re going to cease the advertising of our current marketing program.”

That said, O’Hearn states that Nine Locks does not intend to change the name of the beer. The beer ads have always only depicted pictures of beer, never of a woman or man holding the beer.

According to Nine Locks, Dirty Blonde is a North American-style Weizen brewed with Canadian wheat and barley. Bready, grainy wheat notes give way to a slightly tart, acidic finish.