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I found Amanda’s blogpost about Bic’s new designed-for-ladies pens hilarious. It is a perfect example of a company having gone too far in trying to diversify their product. The concept of pink and purple pens, engineered specifically for women’s hands, and marketed towards women is laughable at best.

In her post, Amanda, mentions how the marketing of “for-her” pens perpetuates stereotypes. Some of the mocking Amazon concepts also talk about how simply the concept that women may feel the need for specially-designed pens speaks to some underlying assumption that women are so needy and delicate that they would need this product.

In this Bic ad, the company does themselves no favour by further perpetuating this stereotype. In the ad, a helpless girl in need of pen rejects (politely) the manly black and blue pens offered to her by her male friends until she receives a pink one from the Bic man, who she then gives a peck on the cheek as thanks.

Ellen DeGeneres’ monologue on her show, despite the humorous undertone, also brings up some important points concerning how products are marketed. This again calls into question the ethics of marketing. In the case of Bic: For Her pens, customers were aware of the silliness of the concept, but this may not be the case for many other ads.

With the ever-increasing amount of ad material available through so many different outlets, there will no doubt be companies trying to push the boundaries to try and sell products, some of which can be harmful.

“It’s a life capture device.”

Most people are familiar with the GoPro ads, which garners millions of views on YouTube, and may own one themselves. What most people may not realize is just how new of company GoPro is, having sold their first camera in 2004. The growth in the company has been explosive and its founder and CEO, Nick Woodman, has now been welcomed to the Forbes list of billionaires.

In this video, Nick Woodman talks about the growth of his company and what has brought it such success.

From watching this, I noticed many points that our marketing class had touched on. Woodman explains that one of the reasons behind the success of the GoPro is the fact that there was nothing else like it when it first entered the market. They had found an untouched market and had tapped into it with a highly differentiated product. Like Woodman states, the GoPro is not designed for quick reactive moments because customers already have their smartphones for that. Rather, GoPro is designed for consumers who want to capture special lifetime memories. This concept is what appeals to the product’s fans, and the company positions themselves towards this concept by creating ads showcasing special moments and with their slogan of “GoPro. Be A Hero.”.

In addition, Woodman talks about some of the distribution channels of the GoPro. At the startup of the company, there were very few channels, with what was essentially one employee, Woodman himself, and the manufacturer. He says that GoPro was profitable from the very start due to this and it has grown into the billion dollar company that it is today from just $265,000 of working capital. When considering the 4 P’s, product, price, place, promotion, of the GoPro, it is clear that the company’s success has been due in large to such great marketing.

While browsing Creative Criminal’s website, a site dedicated to posting about creative advertisements around the world, I came across this post. I had seen these ads a few years back when Science World collaborated with Rethink Canada. Like most kids growing up, I loved going to Science World but had lost interest in it over time. Nothing seemed new anymore. However, when these clever ads came out, they instantly grabbed my and many other people’s attention.

These ads were successful in that they piqued the interest of people and it was made accessible. They were placed in many different locations and the best part of the ads were that they offered no explanation, but rather a call to action. Even for those who are unable to visit the museum, their curiosity would likely to lead them to look up on these factoids internet, bringing them to the Science World site, where there is a running list of really cool and weird facts.

One of the more eye-catching ones included a billboard covered with two ounces of gold. Two security guards were hired to guard the billboard with $6000.

Here are some of the other ads that ran.





Effective marketing is all about getting your name to be one on people’s minds and Science World accomplished that with their clever ads.

When I first saw the article title “Alicia Keys is BlackBerry’s New Creative Director” I thought it was a joke. I am sure I am not the alone in having thought that.

In their attempt to rebrand their company, Blackberry, formerly known as RIM, has began on a campaign to change their image. The first step was to change the company name in conjunction with the launch of a new phone. Second was to appoint Alicia Keys as their Global Creative Director. Bringing in celebrities isn’t new though. Intel hired will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas as it’s “director of creative innovation”, and Polaroid appointed Lady Gaga as their creative director in 2010.

However, in this attempt to become more relevant, many observers feel that Alicia Key’s appointment has overshadowed the main star of their rebranding campaign, the BlackBerry Z10, a touch screen smartphone that boasts new technology. Many fans question this partnership. No doubt that Alicia Keys will be making appearances in BlackBerry’s promotional activities for the new phone over the next few months, but the question is, while this may successfully draw the curiosity of many, can she bring any real value to a faltering company. To make matters worse, skeptics have uncovered some pretty less-than-assuring information. Alicia Key’s first tweet announcing her role as Global Creative Director was made from a computer, not a BlackBerry. Her second-most recent tweet was sent from Instagram, an app unavailable on BlackBerry phones, and her third most recent tweet was sent from an iPhone. For not even getting their new face on board with their just-launched phone, Yahoo! News awarded BlackBerry with “Gaffe of the Week”.

What is ethical in the world of marketing? One populist stance is that marketing itself is inherently evil as it affects buyers’ autonomy and promotes consumerism and waste. An instance where the marketing of a product is called into question exists in the world infant formula market.

Trouble for the formula industry sparked in the 1970s when Nestlé was accused of getting third world mothers hooked on a product that was more expensive and less healthy than breast milk. The formula industry had taken advantage of a disadvantaged group of women by creating a need and reliance where none existed, such as providing free samples in hospitals, and linking their product to desirable concepts (i.e. the North American urban way of life). Furthermore, third world mothers were unable to access research regarding the benefits of breast-milk, barring them from making educated decisions. Numerous social rights groups brought the exploitation to light. Hearings in the Senate and the World Health Organization resulted in the establishment of an International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes.

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Yet despite its dubious past, the babymilk market continues to form the largest part of the baby food market with a share of 40% and it continues to grow (9% per annum in 2011). Nestlé claims to be in full compliance with the international code and that many of the claims are unsubstantiated or out-of-date. However, whether countries abide by the code is hard to track and even where the code is law, enforcement is weak. This begs the question, should there be more rules and better enforcement of them to protect consumers, and if so, is it fair to apply rules to select industries only? Or should consumers be left to their own devices? Such questions are just a few of many that arise when evaluating the grey area that is ethics in marketing.