Just back from the Great British Beer Festival, where CAMRA launched a new campaign ostensibly to attract more women to the delights of proper beer. Using the figure of Ninkasi, a Sumerian predecessor to Ishtar creditied with inventing beer 4000 years ago, the campaign builds on previous ones, which featured naked models on beds of barley, barely covered with hops:

Last year's campaign helped us shake off real ale's flat cap image and proved very popular, particularly with younger men. With Ninkasi we are turning our attention to women and creating a new, powerful icon for female as well as male beer drinkers. We now need to see real ale brewers following our lead with innovative and exciting marketing campaigns to put British beer back at the top of the shopping list for the increasing numbers of female pub-goers.

This year's campaign should prove more popular with young men - rather than a dusky middle-eastern mother figure, Ninkasi has been depicted as Lara Croft with a pint glass. Hale Ninkasi! - CAMRA press release, 5th August 2002.