Swedish Bikini Team
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The Swedish Bikini Team was a group of American female models who appeared in an advertising campaign for Old Milwaukee beer. These commercials ran for several months in 1991 in the United States, playing with American stereotypes of Scandinavian women being blonde and having big breasts. The premise of the commercials was that a group of bored or thirsty men were "saved" by the Swedish Bikini Team.
While many viewers saw the ads as a parody of traditional beer advertisements, others found the ads misogynistic. Though the campaign generated widespread interest, the advertisements were dropped after protests by the National Organization for Women and female employees of the Pabst Brewing Company.
While this advertising campaign provoked controversy, in recent years similar campaigns using attractive spokesmodels to sell beverages have followed in the U.S., with less resistance — such as the Coors twins Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski, NY twins Leesa and Laura Andrew, and the "Fantanas": spokesmodels for Fanta soft drinks.
[edit] Members of the team
The Swedish Bikini Team was played by American actresses wearing platinum blonde wigs.
- Uma Thorensen — Avalon Anders
- Karin Kristensen — Suzanna Keller
- Hilgar Oblief — Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst
- Eva Jacobsen — Jane Frances
- Ulla Swensen — Peggy Trentini
[edit] Other appearances
The team appeared outside of the commercial campaign on several occasions including on the cover and a pictorial in Playboy and on a Married... with Children episode, "The Gas Station Show".
The team, played by different actresses, also starred in the video Never Say Never Mind: The Swedish Bikini Team with John Rhys-Davies.
