Comments on: This is for girls, this is for boys.

By: kat

kat — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:23:02 +0000

@Alara Rogers #16….”Screw the trees, save the women.”

I love you.

By: Evan

Evan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:10:57 +0000

I don’t disagree at all with the offense taken at the way the genders are identified, but it’s worthwhile to think about WHY Kleenex (or whoever) feels the need to do this. It’s not that they think that people care much one way or the other; it’s simply to have more products so they can take up more shelf space.

Shelf space in a supermarket is a zero-sum game; if Kleenex introduces another product that gets adopted on store shelves, it means something else gets pushed off. Nowhere is this practice more clear than in the toothpaste aisle, where a handful of companies each offer dozens of varieties of toothpaste. In practice, it’s the smaller companies that get pushed off, so it’s an effective way for large companies to consolidate their market share and drive off competition without having to compete on price.

The nice thing (for marketers) of gendered items like these is that if you take out the gender-neutral option, the supermarket really has to carry both; to only carry one or the other would be seen as odd. So Kleenex is able to double its claim on retail real estate, simply by designing a second box.

Plus us men have man-size boogers, and need tissues tough enough for a masculine sniffle.

By: TB

TB — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:46:42 +0000

I have a 4 yo daughter and try hard not to put her in the path of gender-specific marketing whenever possible. Last week I drove through McDonald’s to get myself a coffee – she wasn’t with me but I decided to purchase a toy for her because she always loves their little toys. I said “what toys do you have for kids this week?” The guy taking my order said “is it for a boy or a girl?” I said “well I just want to know about both toys so I can decide which one I want.” This apparently shorted out his brain or something because he just kept saying, with growing impatience, “BOY or GIRL??” and I kept saying (politely) “can you just tell me what the toys are, sir?” – but apparently he couldn’t so at some point I just gave up and said “girl.” It was really quite absurd, though. Surely he could have at least said “the boy toy this week is X and the girl toy is Y”, but no, in his mind the ONLY thing he was allowed to ask me was “GIRL OR BOY”.

By: SmartGrrl

SmartGrrl — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 23:31:07 +0000

I think it’s very funny that tissues are so marketed. Really, when I need to blow my nose, I just grab whatever tissue happens to be nearby.
Axe is so stupid. I don’t know why guys use it. It smells awful, and all the commercials are so sexist.

By: To

To — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:06:48 +0000

I agree with much of what’s been posted already. I think a lot of this depends on whether the product itself is stereotyped as “feminine” or “masculine” to begin with rather than a general patriarchal influence. The examples of pink workbenches and “shower detailers” illustrate that well – workbenches are inherently “masculine”, exfoliators “feminine”.

Regarding the man-sized tissues – could it be as simple as men in general having larger noses? :)

With other things mentioned, I don’t think it’s as much sexism as playing on inherent gender biases within individuals. If you want to target a male market, you advertise as big, strong, etc. If you want to target a female market, you advertise as soft, delicate, etc. It’s no more or less sexist to assume women won’t want something big and strong than it is to assume men won’t want something soft and delicate.

By: Jim Fortney

Jim Fortney — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:56:53 +0000

My pet peeve: when you buy a kids meal at a fast food place, they often ask if its for a boy or girl. God forbid if a girl gets a lego or a boy gets a play horse.

The marketing by color to some families really works. My neighbor two doors down won’t buy just one set of blocks or dominoes or whatever for their kids. The girl gets the pink and purple edition, the boy gets the football / red / black edition. In everything. Baggies, cereal, baseballs, whatever.

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:34:45 +0000

wow. I think they are taking the gender issues alittle too far.
Man tissues? All the guys i know dont even blow their nose!…well maybe thats because the ones we have are too feminine?

By: shinynewocin

shinynewocin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:25:24 +0000

I did a post a while ago on the Axe shower detailer ad. Everytime it comes on I find myself saying to the television in incredulous tone “but, it’s just an exfoliator!” to which my boyfriend (sarcastically) responds, “no, exfoliators are for women. Men use shower detailers”.

And while I really like this post, the nonsensical part of my brain now desperately wants a box of tissues with a map of the world on it. I really hate all the flowery nonsense. Oh, but they’re man tissues. Right.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:45:17 +0000

Seriously Axe is pretty much on permanent FAIL watch.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:38:29 +0000

On shower poofs: I had a shower poof, it was just a teal color or something and I lost it, no big deal it was getting worn out anyways. Put it on my gift list for some holiday, can’t remember which, and my parents got me the obnoxious “Axe Body Tool” of “Shower Detailer,” whatever the name is. I still use it cause it is just a shower poof after all, and the scrub part is nice for when you need a lot of ex-foliation. But really it was amusingly annoying. I have since told my parents never to buy me Axe products.