Craft brewer BrewDog has faced a backlash after unveiling a newly-branded beer designed to shine a light on the gender pay gap.

The Scottish company claims Pink IPA, a repackaged version of its Punk IPA, is “satirically dubbed ‘beer for girls’” and is a send-up of “lazy” marketing efforts to target the female market…

In a statement on its website, the firm said it will be serving the beer at 20% cheaper in its bars to those who identify as women and donating 20% of its proceeds from the two IPAs to causes that fight against gender inequality. [J4MB: We look forward to a sizeable donation.]

Sarah Warman, [J4MB: Appropriate surname] BrewDog’s global head of marketing, said: “The fact that the gender pay gap is still an issue in 2018 shows that a lot of lip service is being paid, but not enough action is being taken to tackle inequality.

“We want to accelerate change by empowering more women to make their voices heard and calling out industries and employees that need to do more. With Pink IPA, we are making a statement the only way we know how – with beer.”

Responding to the online debate, she added: “We always anticipated that some people might not immediately appreciate the irony of Pink IPA but that did not deter us in our mission to spark a conversation about the gender pay gap.

“Pink IPA is clearly an over-the-top ridiculing of the types of sexist marketing we often see from brands trying to engage a female audience.