Mothers’ Ruin and Madame Genève. The Troubled Past and the Shining Present of Gin. A Historical-Constructivist Perspective

Although it is often claimed that authenticity is socially constructed, the dynamics through which this social construction actually takes place is still an under debated matter in the current literature. Especially in reference to the connection between a given product and a certain place and an identifiable time. Acknowledging this gap, this paper aims at providing a deeper understanding of the social construction of authenticity by focusing on a product that was not traditionally associated with attributes of authenticity (until recently): the gin. To do so we retraced the history of gin from the end of the 17th century to date, by applying the historical method of research in marketing (Golder 2000). Findings drawn unveil that the emerging authentic discourse in the current gin industry should be attributed to the controversial cultural significance that this product had and still has in England. We provide historical evidences allowing to consider gin as a “denied ensign of Englishness” that gave non English producers the possibility to propose their own authentic market offerings with a credible and non-contradictory cultural symbolism. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided.