I’ve prepared a short German vocabulary list to help with today’s post:

Frauen = “women”
Männer = “men”

besonders = special
mager = special skinny
deftig – hearty
kräftig – strong, powerful
gewürzt – flavorful (or spicy)

OK, now you’re ready to see a package for a product currently available at German grocery stores:

Bratwurst for women and men (click to view larger image)

German grocery store ad for types of Bratwurst (click to view larger image)

Chris saw an article on an Italian newspaper website that made reference to that German grocery store’s print ad above. It seemed like a joke.

However, the bratwurst company’s website would indicate that they aren’t kidding, these are in fact real products, with a type of bratwurst aimed at women (Frauen), and another type for men (Männer).

To paraphrase the description (in German) from that company’s website, these special packages of bratwurst are specially made for the grilling season, and offer something for everyone: a lean and veggie-stuffed sausage for the women, or one with hearty strong-flavors especially for the men.

Okey-dokey.

BTW, in the grocery store ad the prices for the products are separate and unequal just like the sizes of the links in those packages. Those little skinny Frauen-Bratwurst  are far more expensive than the Männer-Bratwurst variety when you figure out the per kilo price.

Well, Frauen-Bratwurst are specially skinny, I suppose.

Now, we periodically eat bratwurst at the restaurant down the street from us, so when we went there yesterday, Chris jokingly asked the owner which type they had, Frauen-Bratwurst  or Männer-Bratwurst. Chris claimed in mock-seriousness that it was important for him to know before he ordered what type she was offering. 😉 The owner at first hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. But when Chris explained, she thought the whole concept was hysterically funny. She’s originally from Thuringen, the area that bratwurst as a food specialty originally comes from, and she’d never heard of any man, woman or company drawing Männer/Frauen distinctions among bratwurst types.

Anyway, we’re guessing it really is just a marketing ploy of some type for that company. Somebody, somewhere must have thought that they would have a successful sales campaign by trying to market to what appeals to genders differently. What they haven’t completely settled on is what the distinction is really supposed to be. Healthy vs spicy? Small vs large?

I mean, do take note of which photo is on which package. The photos apparently don’t represent what you’ll look like after you eat the particular kind of bratwurst inside the package, but rather what kind of person you’ll attract by eating them.

So bizarre, on so many levels…