packaging as content

March 25, 2008

Arrogant Bastard Ale

It wasn’t “road rage” exactly, but sometimes when my grandmother was
driving and another driver offended her in some way, she would lose her
temper and curse. Not so they could hear it, but just to express her
displeasure. If it was a male driver she would say he was a “bastard.”
If it was a female driver, my grandmother would say she was a “bitch.”
If the other driver was too far away to distinguish gender she would
angrily sputter, “Bitches and bastards!”

When a friend recently presented me with this large (1 Pt. 6Fl. Oz.) bottle of Arrogant Bastard® Ale, my first thought was of my grandmother.

Another example of provocative branding, perhaps indicative of a
broader cultural trend. In the 60’s and 70’s when my grandmother was
losing her temper behind the wheel, these were definitely curse words.
There were certainly no products with “bitch” or “bastard” on their
labels. Nowadays we have “Total Bitch” from Blue Q, “Skinny Bitch” cookbooks. South Park’s “You bastard!” (as a punch line to the perennial joke about Kenny getting killed), “Fat Bastard”, the Austin Powers character, and “Fat Bastard” the wine. (I’m sure there’s lots more… what have I missed?)

This being our current cultural milieu, I’m guessing that a huge
public outcry against against this type of “naughty language” is
unlikely. However, that Arrogant Bastard illustration looks a little demonic to me… satanic, even! (See Proctor & Gamble…)

Seems to target a male audience, inviting them to identify with the
character on the label. No reason the company could not also come out
with an “Arrogant Bitch” product, I suppose, but recent usage makes it
just as likely that anyone saying “bitch” these days is referring to a
man. (See “Hug it out, bitch”) I’ve yet to hear anyone call a woman a “bastard.” (My grandmother might have done so, but probably only by mistake.)

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

No Responses to “Arrogant Bastard Ale”

1. Evelyn says:

   May 22, 2008 at 8:04 am

   nice packaging though. “Ci” from Cider can be two eyes with smile.:) good typography.
2. Sano says:

   May 24, 2008 at 6:44 am

   Actually “cider” is the same in English and Swedish . Very good typography anyway, and they taste pretty good too!