Marketing Tips reader Ian Gilbert recently sent me this article about Doritos creating a “lady-friendly” chip. CEO Indra Nooyi, a woman herself, describes how many men lick their fingers after eating the chips, and pour the final crumbs into their mouths, but women would never dream of doing that. They don’t like to crunch too loudly in public, etc. (Clearly we run in different circles…)
So they haven’t released a product yet but Nooyi said, “It’s not a male and female as much as, ‘Are there snacks for women that can be designed and packaged differently?’ And yes, we are looking at it, and we’re getting ready to launch a bunch of them soon. For women, low-crunch, the full taste profile, not have so much of the flavor stick on the fingers, and how can you put it in a purse? Because women love to carry a snack in their purse.”
The Internet was not kind. And within a few days PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, said that they would not be releasing a Doritos for Ladies.
This reminds me of the BIC Cristal for Her pen which has received thousands of mostly-humorous mock reviews on Amazon, like “Someone has answered my gentle prayers and FINALLY designed a pen that I can use all month long! I use it when I’m swimming, riding a horse, walking on the beach and doing yoga. It’s comfortable, leak-proof, non-slip and it makes me feel so feminine and pretty! Since I’ve begun using these pens, men have found me more attractive and approchable. It has given me soft skin and manageable hair and it has really given me the self-esteem I needed to start a book club and flirt with the bag-boy at my local market. “
Brands need to be extra-careful when getting anywhere near issues related to gender, race, sexual identity, and so on. I know a woman who worked on the development of the Venus razor for women at Gillette. Now that was a situation that required a special razor for women. Women who shave shave differently than men: men shave a small part of their face, women shave large parts of their bodies; men tend to shave at the sink, many women shave in the shower; the attitudes of men and women toward shaving are very different; etc. Having a razor that was tailored to those needs was a big success.
And it was nice of the Internet to save Doritos the bother of creating a new Doritos for Ladies.
PS: You can sign up to receive our Amazing, Actionable Marketing Tips, too!
