Do Liquor Brands Target Women?

Ladies, what makes you buy a drink — the taste, or the hunky man hawking the product? It seems the liquor industry thinks it's the dude. 

A new look into the liquor industry, and how it targets certain groups like female drinkers, seems to show that firemen and kitties are the way to make girls drink. Michelle Locke writes on the newest Suaza Tequila YouTube video advertisement, which features — you guessed it, kitties and a sexy fireman, with more than 4 million views so far. But do marketing tactics catering to female tastes work? Said chief marketing exec for Beam (which owns Suaza) Kevin George, it's a resounding yes. He said, "Marketing spirits to women is something that we think is a big opportunity." After all, who drinks more tequila and margaritas than females?

Suaza isn't the only brand with new marketing campaigns geared toward women. Campari America, the home to several whiskey brands like Wild Turkey, recently launched a "women and whiskies" group event to encourage women to learn and drink new whiskies and cocktails. Said Allison Evanow, founder and CEO of Square One Organic Spirits in San Francisco to Locke, "Companies are realizing that women comprise a very heavy percentage of the cocktail-drinking community, and I believe they are starting to speak more directly to women without the fear that they're going to alienate the male base." We'll soak up the firemen and cocktails while we can.

What do you think: Are the ads encouraging — or alienating — female drinkers? Watch the Suaza video below and weigh in.