Molson Coors axes female-friendly beer Animée

The brand is the latest female-friendly beer to fail to capture the imagination of the market. It follows the withdrawal of Carlsberg Eve.

A Molson Coors spokesman explained that the company will continue to invest in “growing brands” and its beers such as Coors Light, Corona and Carling Zest attract a “higher proportion of female drinkers”.

The beer was launched in August last year, and at the time the Publican’s Morning Advertiser revealed that Molson Coors chief executive Mark Hunter admitted “we are prepared to fail” with the launch, but said the category urgently needed the boost this innovation will bring.

Animée was initially launched in a 275ml bottle. The company spent £2m on an advertising campaign. It also had plans to launch the beer on draught if it proved successful.

A Molson Coors spokesman said: “We have conducted a full review of the performance of Animée Beer and have taken the decision to exit this brand from the market in line with key customer range reviews.

“Animée was only one part of our plan to attract more female drinkers to beer, and attracting female drinkers remains a priority to get the category back into growth. We’ve found that some of our brands, such as Coors Light, Corona and Carling Zest, already attract a higher proportion of female drinkers.”

Beer sommelier Nigel Sadler said: “Personally, I think beers specifically aimed at women are not the right way to go. Either the beers are not available widely enough or ladies do not want to drink them.”

Beer writer Melissa Cole added: “Animée was always doomed to failure. We do not need to make beer for women, we need to make beer more accessible for women.”

Jane Peyton, beer sommelier, and principal of the School of Booze said: “If brewers want to encourage more women to drink beer they should not treat women as one market or assume that women want to drink something light with little flavour. Instead of inventing a brand specifically for women, brewers should spend money on marketing beer as a gender neutral beverage that is a drink for everyone.”