Wednesday, August 17, 2011

T-Mobile, the Company that Only Wants Male Customers

I photographed this ad on the tube. I'm sure you have seen it too; it was obviously either designed by a 'politically correct gone mad' designer, or an 'ironic' one who thinks they are being modern and knowing.
Wouldn't touch your products with a barge pole, T-Mobile.
Cadbury's Yorkie did this too recently. According to Wikipedia, it was originally 'aimed at men' when it wwas launched in the 1980s; I remember the ads with trucks, and having an ambition at the time (between bands) to get an HGV licence and drive a big lorry, I sent off for a Yorkie sweatshirt and wore it until it dropped off my back. They had a relaunch a couple of years ago that seemed so nastily old-fashioned in its tone that I decided never to purchase the offending item again; it had become as gender delineated (like that?) as a jock strap.
Surely it is within a company's interest (especially in a recession) whether selling confectionery or mobile phones and internet connections to speak to as much of the population as possible?
Grr. Every so often things remind me that I am a feminist as well as a mother. That doesn't mean that I hate men (rather like them, you see), but it means that I prefer not to feel as though I am a trained chimp in sheep's clothing!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you seen the adverts recently for 'beautiful' sanitary towels, and having a happy period?
What a load of s**t!! They must have been written by a man!!

Helen McCookerybook said...

Yes indeed.

paulG said...

I often wondered what the T in T-mobile stood for.

Now I know: Testosterone. :/