Die Welt rund um Whisky ist in der Darstellung immer noch eine Männerdomäne – und auch die, die versuchen, über Whisky so offen wie möglich zu berichten, weil Whiskygenuss einfach keine Frage des Geschlechts ist, stoßen da manchmal bei der Auswahl des Bildmaterials zur Illustration an ihre Grenzen.
Jetzt hat sich rund um Becky Paskin, Gründerin der OurWhisky Foundation, eine bemerkenswerte und hilfreiche Initiative gebildet, die das Bild des Whiskygenießens ein wenig mehr in die richtige Richtung rücken will: Ein Fotoset von über 50 Stock-Bildern rund um Whiskygenuss, das vor allem mit weiblichen Genießern gestaltet wurde. Alle Bilder wurden unter der Creative Commons 4.0 Lizenz veröffentlicht, können also entgeltfrei nach diesen Regeln genutzt werden. Man findet sie auf Plattformen wie Pexels, Unsplash und Pixabay. Unterstützt wurde das Projekt von elf Unternehmen aus der Branche: Glenfiddich, Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Distill Ventures, The Glenlivet, Brown-Forman, Whyte & Mackay, Glenmorangie, Diageo, Heaven Hill und Edrington.
Der Grund, das Projekt zu machen, ist ausgesprochen einleuchtend: Whiskymarken haben zum Beispiel 2020 immer noch 228% mehr Männer als Frauen als Role-Model gezeigt. Und das entspricht auch der kaufmännischen Wirklichkeit nicht mehr ganz.
Die Initiative ist mit den ersten 50+ Bildern natürlich nicht beendet, es werden noch weitere Bilder und weitere Themen folgen. Mehr dazu in der Presseaussendung, die wir gerne mit Ihnen teilen:
| Presseartikel | Für den Inhalt ist das Unternehmen verantwortlich |
WHISKY INDUSTRY UNITES TO UPDATE THE MODERN FACE OF WHISKY
Eleven whisky industry heavyweights have joined together to launch a free stock image library that positively changes outdated stereotypes of whisky drinkers.
Non-profit organisation the OurWhisky Foundation has launched the Modern Face of Whisky, a globally available, free-of-charge stock image library designed to challenge gender bias and improve the diversity of whisky drinkers portrayed in the media.
Eleven industry leaders have united in support of the OurWhisky Foundation’s ambition to provide a more accurate illustration of today’s whisky drinkers: Glenfiddich, Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Distill Ventures, The Glenlivet, Brown-Forman, Whyte & Mackay, Glenmorangie, Diageo, Heaven Hill and Edrington have all backed the project.
The Modern Face of Whisky aims to eradicate outdated stereotypes through a bank of unbranded stock photography depicting women and people of all genders, races and ages enjoying a variety of whisky serves. The image library will be freely available to the media,
content creators and wider industry via the OurWhisky Foundation website and free stock imagery platforms Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels.
OurWhisky Foundation founder and whisky expert, Becky Paskin, said:
“As a journalist myself, I’ve long been frustrated by the absence of gender diversity in available whisky imagery. Many of those currently available to the media are not representative of today’s whisky drinkers, preserving the false stereotype of whisky being a drink only enjoyed by men. This despite a growing number of women enjoying whisky, and many of the world’s most respected distillers and blenders being female.
“Increasing the availability of free stock images means that those working with even the tightest of budgets can still find appropriate and inclusive images to use.
“Witnessing the whisky industry uniting to change the face of whisky, and the people who drink it, is inspiring and a much-needed step towards achieving gender equality in the industry. By providing free access to a huge bank of imagery, it is my hope that this will act as a much-needed catalyst for change.”
While women remain scarce in whisky imagery, the limited depictions available on free image sites often show women in lingerie, pregnant or as gamblers and alcoholics. This paints a damaging portrait of the female whisky drinker, one that is not congruent with the ever-growing market of female whisky fans, who now make up around 36% of all whisky drinkers in the UK and USA*.
In a 2020 report, the OurWhisky Foundation looked at how the world’s largest whisky brands represented drinkers across their social media pages. The study found 228% more images of men than women – while 82% of people-centric posts featured men, only 36% featured women.
Laura Stanley, Pexels Chief Operating Officer, said:
“Through our Pexels for Change initiative, we’re thrilled to be adding Our Whisky Foundation and Jo Hanley’s incredible work to the Pexels library, available for all to use freely.
“Globally the association of whisky tends to be geared toward older, white men, when the reality is, whisky is enjoyed by many. So long as the imagery available continues to perpetuate these stereotypes, that’s what we’ll continue to believe.
“As a free stock photo community, this is the kind of imagery we aim to amplify. The more imagery we have like this, the more it gets used and seen in everyday life. Ideally, changing those perceptions and stereotypes.”
The library’s first collection has been created in partnership with world-renowned Australian photographer Jo Hanley. Based out of London, Edinburgh and New York, Jo produces brand conscious photographic content for agencies, publications and clients worldwide, including the likes of Apple, British Airways, Comic Relief, Rolling Stone and the Wall Street Journal.
Jo Hanley, photographer, commented:
“I started my photographic career in Scotland where I quickly started shooting lifestyle images for the Scotch whisky industry – it really was love at first sight. However, being a female photographer, it became strikingly obvious that I was often the only woman involved
in a project and the images that were being created always had a masculine lean to the art direction. The understanding was that whisky is a man’s drink.
“I became involved with the OurWhisky Foundation and the Modern Face of Whisky project to help evolve the narrative of the whisky drinker and introduce female leads into the whisky story. Ultimately, I hope the images go some way to highlighting the fact that whisky has no gender bias, that it is created and enjoyed by women globally and that to exclude women in the visual narrative is only telling half the story.”
The Modern Face of Whisky stock image library is available on Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash, as well as on the OurWhisky Foundation’s website.
