Marketing is everywhere—posters, television advertisements, even not-so-obvious things like branded clothing. The way certain products are marketed can make a huge impact in how they sell. The use of colours, shapes, and the name of the product can all influence how a product sells. But marketing can do more than just ensure a product sells well: it can also control who buys it.
There’s a constant battle between products on the shelves of stores. Should you buy the deodorant that’s scented like cucumber mint or the one scented like clean laundry? The average consumer can be overloaded with the number of choices available. Luckily for us, the marketing departments have created a special something to aid our decision making: gendered packaging.
For example, how do you know which shampoo you need without looking too closely at every option available? Easy—you’ll look for the colour. Generally, women’s products (or, rather, products aimed toward women) will be a lighter colour like white, yellow, or pink, while products aimed toward men will be darker shades of black, blue, or red. Women’s products also tend to be loaded with detailed imagery, curvy lines, and soft artwork. Men’s will show more general or geometric patterns, straight lines, and blocky text.
It’s an outdated practice as gender is so much more of a spectrum than was previously thought, but gender still has a huge role in modern marketing. Even today, you’ll find an outrageous amount of pink and white in any aisle catering to women’s products. If you’re interested, look for a few products aimed toward men, and then look at those same products for women. Nine times out of 10 the product for women will be in a white package, while the product for men will be in black. (I recommend looking at Dove shampoos and body wash—they follow these design styles almost perfectly.)
There is almost no difference between the ingredients of men’s and women’s shampoo. They use a similar recipe and have similar advantages (smooth hair, a healthy scalp, anti-dandruff treatment). And this isn’t just true for shampoo either. Tons of products are gendered unnecessarily.
With fragrance often being the determining factor here, gendered branding is as much of a constraint as gender itself is. It’s almost completely made up.
Gendered branding only works because we, as consumers, allow it to. Just being aware that gendered branding exists can have a huge impact on how we shop.
If you don’t need your bathroom products to confirm your gender identity, you could end up saving big time on products that are purchased regularly. If men’s deodorant is on sale or cheaper than what you regularly buy, go ahead, give it a try. If women’s conditioner is cheaper than men’s, go see how it works for you. There are no real rules, so buy what you like, feel free to explore, and don’t be afraid of trying new things.