THESE days whisky is enjoyed by a diverse range of people – but its dominant imagery still tends to lean towards the masculine, reinforcing the outdated stereotype of whisky as a ‘man’s drink’.
In an effort to correct that imbalance, a coalition of eleven whisky industry heavyweights has just launched a new library of stock images, free to use for the media and content creators, depicting women and people of all genders, races and ages enjoying a variety of unbranded whisky serves.
This ‘Modern Face of Whisky’ image library is now globally available, thanks to non-profit organisation the OurWhisky Foundation, which is backed by Glenfiddich, Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Distill Ventures, The Glenlivet, Brown-Forman, Whyte & Mackay, Glenmorangie, Diageo, Heaven Hill and Edrington.
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 – well out of step with the ever-growing market of female whisky fans, who now make up around 36% of all whisky drinkers in the UK and USA.
The initiative’s organisers noted that the issue wasn’t just the scarcity of women in whisky imagery – there was also the problem that the limited depictions available on free image sites painted a ‘damaging portrait’ of the female whisky drinker, showing women in lingerie, pregnant or as gamblers and alcoholics.
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,” said Ms Paskin.
“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.”
Laura Stanley, Chief Operating Officer of the Pexels stock photo service, said: “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, who 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.
