Through an Ale Glass, Palely: Mermen, Neptune/Poseidon and Tritons as motifs in beer brands and product labels.

Alex Mesker

doi:10.1344/co201927106-135

Abstract

While the merman has been a minor figure in modern popular culture — in marked contrast to his gender counterpart, the mermaid — the figure has begun to enjoy a resurgence in several cultural niches in recent decades. One of the most notable of these has occurred with regard to the branding and marketing of types of beer and, in particularly, with the burgeoning ‘craft beer’ movement that has taken off in North America, Europe and Australasia (in particular) since the early 2000s. After an introduction to the merman in popular culture, this article analyses the use of mermen and related fish-tailed mythological males in brewery names and symbols, on beer bottle labels and in related marketing material. The article considers the product image created by such symbolism and the manner in which it might be modifying the role and perception of the merman and related figures in contemporary popular culture. It furthermore aims to illustrate ways that contemporary abstract, naive, camp and kitsch depictions of mermen are embraced by breweries to situate themselves as culturally engaged, environmentally oriented, or anti-establishment agitators.

Highlights

For we see through a glass, darkly; but face to face: I know in part; but shall I know even as I am known. (Bible 1 Corinthians 13:12 [King James Version])
A similar pattern can be seen in representations of Neptune in beer brand imagery and, for this reason, Neptune and mermen are considered together in this article
With beer branding acting as an instructive fiction for its consumers, bottle art and labels have the power to perpetuate or arrest coherences in the categorisation of sex, gender and sexuality typically associated with beer consumption

Summary

Introduction

For we see through a glass, darkly; but face to face: I know in part; but shall I know even as I am known. (Bible 1 Corinthians 13:12 [King James Version])Like his female counterpart, the mermaid, the merman is a composite creature with the upper torso of a human and the lower body of fish. Discussing the few examples of mermen that have maintained some faint presence in film and television, he characterised three principal types: aged and bearded patriarchs (ibid: 152), transformative teenage mermen (ibid: 155–8) and queer mermen (ibid: 158–66).. Discussing the few examples of mermen that have maintained some faint presence in film and television, he characterised three principal types: aged and bearded patriarchs (ibid: 152), transformative teenage mermen (ibid: 155–8) and queer mermen (ibid: 158–66).1 As he characterises, none of these are equivalent to the types of adult heterosexual males typically represented in mainstream cinema and popular culture more generally. Over the last century variants of his form, variously called King Neptune or King Triton have appeared in various Disney productions (Hayward, 2017: 35–7, 152), blurring the distinction between the fully human figures of Neptune and Poseidon and fish-tailed tritons and mermen. A similar pattern can be seen in representations of Neptune (in particular) in beer brand imagery and, for this reason, Neptune and mermen are considered together in this article

Objectives

Conclusion