Carlsberg has launched a new Beer Beauty line, the latest in a series of recent innovations, including Burger King’s burger-scented perfume and Lidl’s “Eau de Grill,” that seem to suggest the way to a male beauty consumer’s heart is through his stomach.
The Beer Beauty line includes shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion that actually contains 0.5 liters of freeze-dried beer per 250ml bottle. Carlsberg’s beer bath-time products may seem like a niche purchase at the price of almost €64, but the line has already sold out, pointing to an appetite for more manly options within the male beauty category.
The new products were developed in-house in collaboration with Urtegaarden, a Danish beauty/food manufacturer and retailer. Jim Daniell, international media director of Carlsberg, has said that although they offer a “humorous take on male grooming,” the products also capitalize on the real benefits of beer for skin and hair. And rather than smelling like a frat house floor, the products have a lovely lemony scent.
Men of all stripes are increasingly comfortable with the notion of spending time and money on their appearance: the men’s toiletries category was valued at a whopping $22.2bn globally in 2014, according to Datamonitor. As our Masculinity and Modernity report revealed last year, more than three-quarters of British men now believe there is more pressure on them to dress well and be well-groomed than in the past.
The so-called metrosexuals were the early adopters of the current wave of male grooming. But as “men’s beauty” no longer seems like an oxymoron, brands have a growing opportunity to innovate in the category while appealing to a broader market.
Image source: Carlsberg