This blogpost comments on Sameena’s post about Gillette’s “What Women Want” marketing campaign.
Despite running the risk of offending half of the human population, and acknowledging that this comes from a terrible male chauvinist standpoint (which does not at all reflect my own opinion), I think that the “meme” on the right is an appropriate introduction to the topic Sameena found for one of her blogposts: What Women Want. Generally, one might assume that in typical relationships, men are annoyed by the shopping habits women exhibit. Gillette’s marketing campaign, however, builds on the observation that the men’s very own shopping habits are heavily influenced by women.
Sameena correctly identifies Gillette as promoting metrosexuality (men enjoying shopping and taking care of their appearance, etc.), however, I don’t think that Gillette redefines gender norms. The campaign (see the video below) is essentially an attempt to promote a Gillette razor for men, because it achieves exactly what women want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDC29jLmlOw
For this product alone, women clearly do not represent a target market segment. Yet, they are used in the commercial because men respond well to such tactics. Thus, Gillette positions the products as appealing to women, thereby creating demand for it from men. Coming back to how men dislike women’s shopping habits and preferences, they clearly do not dislike them when linking to their very own sex-appeal.
