Gender Marketing Doesn’t Work

… When You “Pink It and Shrink It”

Back in the 1950s, when cars had tail fins and Saturday nights were spent at the drive-in, a car company stumbled upon the big idea of ‘gender marketing.’ Knowing that women were buying cars in greater numbers than ever before, the company offered a new model for female customers: it had pink floral upholstery and a matching parasol. The model was a dismal failure. Women weren’t buying it. Gender marketing didn’t work.

We may roll our eyes at this quaint tale today, but I can’t count the number of pink scissors, hammers, tape dispensers and other assorted products I’ve encountered. Women will buy the products you sell– don’t “Pink It and Shrink It.”