In response to Hassan Packir’s blog post about post-gender stereotyping, I found the women’s pen absolutely hilarious, not just due to the Ellen clip at the end either!
It’s a fantastic example of really poor segmentation.
However, what I am curious about from reading this is can pulling something off like the “For Her” pen lead to more publicity, and actually be fairly beneficial? I mean, unless the perceived PR shows your product as being poor, such as Toyota’s brake recalls, then might it be a decent PR stunt, especially if you play if off as one? In Bic’s defense, there isn’t anything functionally wrong with the pen that I have researched. It may still be ridiculous, but nonetheless I can see it being used as a “joke product”.
As a classic example, April fool’s day jokes like this YouTube collection on DVD. But in all seriousness, I look to someone like Richard Branson who has made Virgin hugely successful through such successful branding, namely through keeping his products and brand active and entertaining. I find it somewhat bizarre how more ads aren’t made to be entertaining, but perhaps that’s just me on a tangent.
On the flip side of gaining PR for the hilarity of the product, I do recognize the negative PR for something like the “For Her” pen can have on a brand’s image. That said, as long as it is made clear that it truly is a joke, it would probably work out. But as I can imagine, as in personal branding, it takes a lot to build up your brand, but one or two stupid moves later and you can be back at square one (depending on how strong the brand begins as).
As for Bic, dumb move, but good entertainment for me!
(also found this, just for fun: Ten Real Products We Wish Were April Fool’s Jokes)