Sunday 5 June 2005
Toys for little boys
There is this ad on TV about how a particular electronics company is trying to make technology more user-friendly. It shows a series of little kids handling some devices. Until yesterday I hadn’t realized all the kids were boys. What sort of subliminal message are they trying to convey? That girls can’t be as technologically savvy than boys? That there’s no point for them to try? What? They’re confirming women/girls watching the ad in their idea they’re right not to want to learn about computers and digital cameras and scanners, or whatever, that’s it for boys, and that it is ok, when something goes wrong with their machines, to go, “My boyfriend/husband/father/brother, who knows a lot about xxxx (usually not that much anyway), says…” Sorry, it isn’t ok and it isn't charming. We complain about men not wanting to learn how to load the washing machine. It’s the same thing. Slapping X around their dumb corporate face for keeping girls out of their ad.
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and did you know that electronics for women are white (think domestic appliances) and electronics for men are black (hi-fis, TVs etc.)
ReplyDeletesomeone who used to work in comet told me this was all by design
thing is: who are those big new smeg multi-coloured fridges aimed at then??
What about the iPod, then? Is that aimed at women? I think that person at Comet is a little behind the times. Cameras, TVs, hi-fis, etc. are now silver anyway, not black.
ReplyDeleteThe big coloured fridges hark back to 50s America - the land of cheerful, Formica kitchen tables and ice-cream parlors. They appeal to everyone, I guess.