Comments on: Man Crisps

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:34:24 +0000

this advert is plain wrong- it’s sending out the message that being feminine/ a woman is basically wrong.

and i bloody thought we were moving PAST the 1850s!

bad move, mccoys.

-*x*-

By: shelly

shelly — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:26:23 +0000

mens crisps why dont you mahe a womens crisp for gods sake

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:44:26 +0000

Starry Science Fact DISPROVED as I munch a packet of McCoy’s Flame Grilled Steak crisps at 10:45 every morning with my Roobios tea!

Still I suppose it’s the equal and opposite reaction to the last decade and a half of female-friendly adverts where men are routinely depicted as nerds and/or berks and/or hopeless and/or impotent, most of which were dreamed up by male marketing directors.

By: Faith

Faith — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:48:23 +0000

I used to love Yorkies, but I haven’t bought one since their offensive advertising informed me my money (as a woman) wasn’t good enough.

Very disappointed to find out that some of my favourite crisps will now have to be consigned to the scrapheap. Sad…

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:59:06 +0000

No-one eats McCoys outside of AN PUB - this is a science fact!

By: Emma

Emma — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:37:59 +0000

What about Coke Zero then? That’s definitely marketed at ‘proper blokes’ rather than big girlie diet coke with girlie girls in offices taking breaks to ogle handymen’s pecs.

I had been put off trying it cos of the abysmal ads but was forced to at my parents’ recently (they are very cruel like that) and lo! it was actually really quite nice, and indeed better than diet coke.

By: Andrew Farrell

Andrew Farrell — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:16:04 +0000

I want Fathers for Justice to publically ask for sponsorship from these brands, it’s a win-win situation.

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:05:12 +0000

Probing that distinction ridic/offens is exactly what they want to do. when they go over it they generate more press.

defining unmanly adtivities = it sounds pretty offensive already

By: Kat

Kat — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:21:12 +0000

When does this sort of thing cross the line from Ridiculous to Offensive?

Like Andrew says above, Yorkie’s campaign may have reduced the numbers of girls (and discrimination-sensitive blokes) buying Yorkies, but Yorkies taste minging anyway. McCoys taste quite nice though so as an girl I am torn between boycotting said snack product to serve them right or to buy MORE of it to prove them wrong. Either way I can’t win, so I might just buy extra packets of Walkers instead.

By: Steve Mannion

Steve Mannion — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:15:07 +0000

I really don’t get/agree with this kind of BRMANDING.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:12:40 +0000

I don’t know if the Yorkie campaign worked or not - I think they’re still doing it but Yorkie is a bit sickly so I haven’t bought one in ages.

Anyway there’s a difference in emphasis between “Not for girls” and “For proper blokes”.

By: Andrew Farrell

Andrew Farrell — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:05:42 +0000

Are Yorkie back on the Manwagon? They’re definitely who I think of as the progenitor of it (or the ‘cheeky’ end of it, I’m sure there was a certain amount of “there seems to be some confusion, we reassure our customers that our products are not suitable for womanly sensibilities”, say a century ago).

And why does it need to be countered, my impression was that it didn’t work, that all Yorkie’s “Not for girls” campaign really achieved was to cut down on the number of girls buying it. Mind you I heard that from people who are an easy mark for anti-marketing urban legends.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:59:11 +0000

I recently had to edit a “thinkpiece” at work which started one paragraph with the high-sounding mantra “In business as in life, the only constant is change”. I pointed out that the previous several paragraphs had been devoted to arguing that the specific market under discussion was subject to several deep constants which didn’t change. The writer seemed to see no contradiction in this whatsoever.

By: tracerhand

tracerhand — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:52:08 +0000

In advertising goliath Ogilvy & Mather’s New York headquarters, an inspirational quote from Mr. Ogilvy himself is silkscreened onto the wall: “Change is our lifeblood - stagnation our death knell.” It has been there for at least six years.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:10:07 +0000

Or a more reasoned response: show me a marketer who doesn’t secretly or openly think of themselves as a bit “edgy”.

Of course in this sense Marketing and (what happened to) Punk are perfect bedfellows.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:04:14 +0000

Aargh.

By: Stevie

Stevie — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:53:42 +0000

Not really anything to do with this, but I wonder if had seen this, Dr Marketing:

http://www.businessweek.com/print/innovate/content/mar2007/id20070308_915798.htm