Made in Macao | Ladies’ Night – how big a deal?

Jenny Lao-Phillips

I couldn’t believe it when someone told me a bar in Hong Kong was sued for holding “ladies’ nights.” It’s not like this is any new gimmick. There have been ladies’ nights ever since I could legally drink. So, what makes this case so special? To my further surprise, the “victim” actually won the lawsuit, and the bar was ordered to compensate him for his “emotional distress.” I guess no lawsuit has been brought against ladies’ nights in this part of the world before, because no one had fallen victim to this marketing technique which is widely used in bars and clubs. That sparked my interest in finding out the extent of distress that “ladies’ nights” have actually caused bar-goers.
According to the Sex Discrimination Ordinance in Hong Kong, it is unlawful to discriminate against or harass a person on the grounds of sex, marital status or pregnancy in many different spheres, including provision of goods, services or facilities. I guess it is not difficult to understand how some may consider it discrimination against men when only women are offered discounts on ladies’ nights – especially when ladies’ nights have been considered unlawful discrimination in the U.K., and some states in the U.S. have also expressed a disapproval of the ladies’ nights, claiming that such promotions constitute gender discrimination. However, the legality of ladies’ nights has been upheld in some US states where the court considered this to be merely a promotional tactic to increase the number of female patrons in bars rather than being intended in any way to exclude male patrons. As a colleague with legal background puts it: “It depends on how the law is interpreted.”
However, I can’t help wondering how many men were “forced” to go to a bar that was offering discounts only to female customers on ladies’ nights? How about bars that offered gentlemen nights’ as well ladies’ nights? Will they be next in line to get sued for gender discrimination by men on one day and by women on another day? Perhaps there are more ladies’ nights in bars and clubs in Hong Kong and that is what has caused a male patron to ultimately become emotionally distressed. But will this affect the promotional strategy of bars in Macao as well?
From the point of view of patrons of ladies’ nights, both male and female, no one has even thought about the discrimination implicit in this promotional tactic – at least, this is the case for the few bar and club regulars I’ve had a chance to discuss this topic with. According to most of them, this is just a gimmick, not much different from Halloween night or Mother’s Day specials in restaurants. The truth is that doing business is already difficult in Macao with the rental costs for good bar locations becoming more and more unaffordable; business owners need to constantly think of new gimmicks to attract customers.
A former bar owner once admitted that he should have stolen the ladies’ nights idea from Hong Kong. It could have helped him bring in more business then and may have avoided him closing down. That was over 10 years ago. Since then, we have seen more ladies’ nights in different bars in Macao. To bar-goers, it is not anything big, but rather an excuse for friends to go and party.
Although, if ladies’ nights are to be banned in Macao, that ban may not affect bar-owners as much as those in Hong Kong. One bar owner predicted a decrease in business by as much as 50% according to a news report in SCMP. In Macao, the trend tends to be moving towards all-you-can-drink happy hour promotions. So, perhaps ladies’ nights are already outdated here. Maybe we don’t need special discounts to be encouraged to go to bars anymore, and in that case ladies’ nights aren’t really much of a big deal. Jenny Lao-Phillips