- Mike Beirne

St. Pauli Girl beer kicks off Oktoberfest by looking for its next St. Pauli Girl spokesmodel. The imported beer, well-known for attractive women which adorn its bottle and advertising, is partnering with laddie magazine Maxim to conduct the selection.

Starting Sept. 15, fans can visit maxim.com/stpaulgirl to peruse preliminary photo shoots of four finalists: Tara Rice of Valencia, Calif., Brooke Long of Chino Hills, Calif., Katrina Van Derham of Slovakia and Jessica Hall of Quartz Hill, Calif. Ballots will be counted through Nov. 10. Successor to the reigning St. Pauli Girl, Irina Voronina, will be announced in January. Maxim will support through online banner ads.

“Each year, thousands of aspiring models and actresses compete for the title of national St. Pauli Girl and this year we’re involving fans of the beer more than ever, making the fans a part of the St. Paul Girl tradition,” said Tom Willett, brand manager with Crown Imports, Chicago, which handles the German brew.

St. Pauli Girl sales, as with most imports, have been declining this year. St. Pauli Girl case sales in drug, grocery and mass market outlets excluding Wal-Mart declined 3.6% for the 52-weeks ended Aug. 1, per IRI.

Overall shipment for the imported beer category between January and June decreased 3% from the comparable 2007 period as consumers traded down or bought from the growing selection of craft beers, which gained 6.5% during the same time period, per the Brewers Assn.