Getting the drinks in -- Japan's bikini beer girls

What would summer in Japan be without gorgeous lasses in scant summerwear grasping huge glasses of beer, gleaming out from posters around the country?

It used to be all so civilized with the campaign girls being well-covered in kimonos or yukatas.

But these days each beer brand carefully selects the girl that suits their brand image best and then shoots them alone on a beach with their brew as their only company.

In days gone by, a more formal dresscode was followed for beer enthusiasts.

Inebriated advertising

Lonelee Planet presents 15 of the most memorble campaign girls of recent times, but apparently it's not all sunshine, sand and smiles.

Last year aggressive beer ads received criticism for encouraging women in Japan to drink alone. TV advertising last year even included famed-actress Aoi Miyazaki seemingly inebriated while drinking alone on her balcony.

Women with independent thought deciding to drink alcohol? Sounds like progressive advertising to us.