Is this really what marketing to women is all about?
Is this really what marketing to women is all about?
The Mars bar has a new sister. According to NPR, the Mars has just launched Fling, a new chocolate bar aimed at women.Wrapped in a shiny pink and sliver package, this delicate "chocolate finger" is intended for women. According to NPR, the word "finger" is an industry term for a long, slim confection, Mars spokesman Ryan Bowling says, but with ads that invite you to "Pleasure yourself" in pink lettering, consumers might come to other conclusions.
The Fling website proclaims "We created FLING™ Chocolate Fingers to celebrate the female spirit – the unapologetically feminine playful, naughty, flirtatious, and alluring nature that brings shimmer into the world". The tag line on the package is "Naughty, but not that naughty." A TV spot starts with what looks like strangers having sex in a store dressing room.
NPR asks whether this hyper-feminine, hyper-sexualized marketing is coming on too strong?
"The overall campaign feels weird," Lisa Johnson, co-author of Don't Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy, says "It feels creepy. The language of it has so much sexual innuendo, you could pack it into a trashy novel." Johnson says marketers are taking the connection women often make between chocolate and sensuality too literally.
We agree.
Monday, 18 May 2009 15:29