When thinking of what to write for this week’s blog, I looked
at the top of the “Our voices” page and saw the image of the pen. Then it came to me, the Bic Lady Pens!
If you haven’t heard about the “lady pens” allow me to catch
you up. Bic started marketing a new
product called “Bic for Her” pens that come in stereotypical feminine
colors. If you look on the website, Bic
tells us it’s a “ball pen essentially for women!” which doesn’t explain much to
me, but when I continued to look at the website I found another pen just for
women. This one is “Bic Cristal for
Women” and tells me that it has a “tinted barrel thinner for a better handling
for women.” (Obviously that’s been a concern for us women all these years,
don’t you find yourself complaining about how difficult it is to write with a
normal pen?)
Bic started marketing these pens awhile back, without much
buzz around the product, until they decided to approach a potential
spokeswoman. They asked Ellen DeGeneres
if she would be interested and I’m guessing you can imagine how that went
over. If you can’t imagine, you can
check it out online http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCyw3prIWhc
While I think Ellen is hilarious and justified in mocking
those pens, it made me think about other products that are marketed “for her”
that don’t serve any special purpose.
For instance, pink tools. Sure, I
appreciate that some people want to buy tools that are pink because they like
the color, but after doing a quick search online, all the pink tools I found
are sold as “ladies tool set” or “tools for women.” Interestingly enough, I also found a website
for “Tomboy Tools” where you can host a tool party for your female friends and
they can learn how to use tools and purchase items. All in pink of course.
I did a little research and it appears that many items that
are marketed just for women also cost more than the regular product. According to a 2010 Consumer Reports study,
equivalent items in a drugstore (like shampoo and deodorant) cost more if they
are specifically marketed to women. The
reason is often special packaging, different scents, etc. But often the same product with a different
look costs more. This seems pretty
ridiculous, yet people are obviously buying the products.
So what’s the solution?
I think it all comes down to choice.
If you haven’t seen the documentary Miss
Representation (the Lieben Center has a copy!), there’s a part in the film
that addresses women’s buying power. According
to the documentary,”86% of the purchasing power in this country is in the
pockets of women.” That’s a pretty large
percentage, and it tells me that if women aren’t buying your product, it
probably won’t succeed.
I think there are plenty of products marketed toward women
that I currently buy, including shampoo, body wash, and razors. But that’s my choice as a consumer. Just like I have the choice NOT to buy
products that I don’t think are necessary, like lady pens.
Is there a product out there that you think is ridiculous to
have “for her?” I’d love to hear it in
the comment section!
Kindly,
No comments:
Post a Comment