marketing

It doesn't surprise me that Snoop took the opportunity to engage in a little product placement, though he's also joked about pot brownies on Martha's show. What's more interesting is that Landy's deal with Snoop appears to be a case of the tail wagging the dog. References to cognac started appearing in hip-hop lyrics as early as the 1990s – somewhat, it seems, to the surprise of cognac makers. Previously the brandy (named for the region in France where it's made) was marketed to older, upper-class and upper-middle class white folks, at least in the U.S.

After a few years, the stodgy, slumping cognac industry seized on the trend and started enlisting rappers for endorsement deals; right after Snoop was shown pouring yak into mashed potatoes, Hennessy released a special edition cognac to celebrate Obama's inauguration.

African-Americans probably don't make up the percent of the market that some cognac makers claim. But the cognac industry continues to court African-American customers heavily, and rappers are still coveted spokespeople for luxury booze (even if they're also, uh, shilling for Hot Pockets).

 

Back in August, our web editor commented on the sexism of the “BIC for Her” feminine pen debacle. She opened her blog with the quip: “Thank God I'm typing this post on a laptop, because ladies like me need special, feminine pens to write longhand these days.” 

Yeah, about that. I’ve got some bad news.

Remember those BIC For Her pens that inspired hilarious customer reviews a while back? Well, they weren't the first pens to be marketed to small-handed, weak-fingered women.



In "Girlie Pens, Again? Why Ordinary Things Go Pink" Lisa Hix explores the reasons behind Pink Think, when "mid-century manufacturers realized that if you take an ordinary object, turn it pink, and put the word 'Lady' in front of the name, then you’ve created a product 'for women' that can be sold for more money."

Let’s use Disney as an example (since they’re one of the biggest offenders when it comes to branding). Sure, you might expect familiar Disney faces to pop up in places like mylar balloons in the florist department, on band-aids, shampoo, toothpaste, and tooth brushes in the health aisle, or on paper goods like plates, napkins, and cups. But would you expect those sneaky princesses to pop up in the produce section?



Grapes—sponsored by Disney!

Have your preteen's looks suffered with age? GeoGirl can erase her wrinkles in time for that last year of grammar school!

Wait...what?

When I saw the Jezebel headline "The Newest American Girl Doll Has A Secret" I couldn't help but click through. It turns out the Gwen Thompson, a "companion" doll to Girl-of-the-Year doll Chrissa, is the first American Girl Doll to be living in a homeless shelter. From her American Girl Wiki page:

Gwen and her mother Janine fell on hard times when her father lost his job; they later lost the house as they were unable to keep up payments. Soon after, Gwen's father left them and they became homeless...

Job loss? Homeownership kaput? Sounds like what a sizeable chunk of America experienced this past year! Looks like American Girl is very up to date with contemporary issues that girls (and their parents) can relate to, or at least recognize (see also: Chrissa vs. the cyber-bullies!). Color me cynical, but I can't help but feel this is just a marketing strategy by the Mattel-owned company.

This past week the London Paper brings us news of the September unveiling of a fancy (and expensive) new "Sex Pistol" ice cream cocktail at Selfridge's. Loaded with additives like guarana and argenine, it's billed as "claiming to have similar effect to the libido-boosting drug Viagra." Normally, I don't think you can ever go wrong with ice cream, but reading about this made me roll my eyes so hard I thought they'd get stuck to the underside of my skull. Viagra ice cream? Bitch, please. I am so OVER Viagra.

You want some sexism with your steak?  Serve me up some A1 sauce!