A 4,000 year-old Sumerian goddess of beer is being used in a drive to convince more women about the pleasures of drinking ale. The Campaign for Real Ale's focus will be on cask ale, but any positive results could have knock-on effects in the take-home market, where research shows women do most of the alcohol buying if not the actual consumption. The pressure group is embarking on the campaign on the back of its own research which suggested that 17% of women think beer is old-fashioned. The same number fear it will make them fat, while 22% shun ale because promotions aren't aimed at women. A modern version of the goddess Ninkasi will appear on point of sale material. Mike Benner, CAMRA's head of campaigns, said: "Almost all the advertising we see on our TV screens for beer is too laddish, too lager-based and a real turn-off for women." {{DRINKS }}

Topics