Ad men don't get what women want
Advertising is a seduction, but commentator and ad-watcher Andrea Gardner says that for all the purchasing power women have, advertisers don't always give a lot of thought to what they want to hear.
A woman talks on her mobile phone as she passes a street ad. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images)
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TEXT OF COMMENTARY
Bob Moon: How's this for the ultimate mascara remover -- as in, for good: From the makers of Botox comes a new treatment aimed at stimulating eyelash growth and the company reports this week that clinical testing of the medicine looks promising.
Allergan has its eyes on as much as $500 million dollars a year in sales provided the Food and Drug Administration approves it -- and provided the company can find just the right pitch.
Which brings us to this question: What do women want? That's what commentator and ad-watcher Andrea Gardner finds herself wondering.
Andrea Gardner: Remember that ad from a couple years back? The one where hordes of panic-stricken men scramble through grocery store aisles buying milk. The punch line was...
[Clip from Ad]: A recent study has shown that calcium reduces the effects of PMS.
Now, this is patently offensive to women, right? As if our husbands can't come home without enough milk to slay us into sanity. And traditionally, men don't buy the milk. Women do. So how does this commercial deliver?
I posed that question to an advertising consultant and women's studies professor. They told me the ad was likely targeted at younger women -- 20- and 30-somethings who weren't inclined to wave the feminism flag or picket a dairy. In other words, someone my age. But I was offended.
But then I realized something: I have the upper hand when it comes to commercials. I'm a woman, which means I'm a power-consumer in America. Women buy everything from the milk to the insurance plan to the family car. That means we're quite desirable in the eyes of Corporate America. With every ad, America's top companies woo us; they vie for our attention. It's as if the Brawny Man, the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Geico lizard beckon us on bended knee. Their ads, products and coupons are like little valentines, asking us to give them a chance. That gives us leverage. We can give milk the cold shoulder and cozy up to companies like Dove whose ads charm us.
I've allowed myself to fall in love with companies that work hard to win me over, the ones that get my love create interesting ads, try to do right in the world and make products that work. At the moment, I'm quite smitten with Starbucks, Nike and Volkswagon. I'm still waiting for milk to make amends.
And I'm always open to being stolen away.
Moon: Andrea Gardner's new book is "30-Second Seduction: How Advertisers Lure Women Through Flattery, Flirtation and Manipulation."
Comments
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06/06/2008
She sees that milk ad in directly the opposite way I do.
I see it as a slam on men who are too stupid and immature to deal with his wife's natural monthly fluctations.
The man is so incapable of coherent thought that he believes that glass of milk will bring peace to his life.
If one examines ads men come out on the short end of the stick in the vast majority of instances.
From CO, 06/06/2008
I do buy everything in my household. And according to "The Millionaire Next Door" that's true of most US households. There's even a joking reference to "The Wife Test" when it comes to adoption of a lifestyle change, such as buying CFLs.
What's offensive about the ad is that it implies that men who notice their wives are angry should buy milk. What about talking to your wife about what she's angry about? What about asking your wife if she'd like a hot bath/massage/time without the kids? No... just assume that she's not getting enough dairy and any kind will do.
From Nashville, TN, 06/06/2008
"...on bended knee"? Get real. This is like the air-conditioner joke, right?
Although not terribly tasteful, the milk ad is amusing and apparently effective: you remembered it.
Why are so many so petty that every statement has the potential to offend some person or group (or self-proclaimed mouthpiece for said group) and that person or mouthpiece always expects an apology, regardless of whether an actual offense occurred? (By the way: My mother had vicious mood swings before her period and we men of the house would have bought a COW if we thought it would have helped keep the peace.)
From Spokane, WA, 06/06/2008
Although I can understand Ms. Gardners offense from the milk commercial, I could not agree with her presumptuous statement that 'Women buy everything from the milk to the insurance plan to the family car.'. Although this may be true for her, it is not true for me; nor do I imagine it is true for most Americans, whether male or female. So although she may believe that she has the 'upper hand', that advertisers are wooing her, vieing for her attention, I think that she thinks much too highly of herself.
From Marshall, MN, 06/05/2008
I guess I do not know why the mention of a legitimate medical condition - PreMenstral Syndrome - is considered patently offensive to women, seemingly regardless of the context. This affliction affects many, if not most, women at some part of their lives, and all of the women that I have known who have suffered from it would be willing to try almost anything to find a way to find relief from its misery. To describe its mere mention as patently offensive just plays into the stereotype that PMS is just a label men place on any behavior of a woman that is considered unpleasant - or the stereotype that PMS is an excuse for the bad behavior of a woman, including a defense for murder.
Advertisements for remedies to far more embarassing health conditions - yeast infections, that "not so fresh feeling" down below, erectile disfunction, etc, are hard to avoid on television, but certainly do not inspire boycotts of their products. I cannot help but wonder if part of what made this so "offensive" was that PMS was mentioned by a male voice - would Ms Gardner's reaction have been as strong if it were a woman's voice that stated that she drank milk to help find relief of her symptons?
Perhaps our society needs to grow up when it comes to this very common affliction, and maybe when that happens, a more open dialog can happen that may perhaps help these women find more relief. Advocating a boycott of milk based on an emotional response to the mention of a uniquely female medical condition - a product which has undeniable health benefits to women, including the prevention of debilitating osteoporosis - is irresponsible.
She does have a valid point though, in that the advertiser did not anticipate the childish reaction to the advertisement.
To head off some off criticism, (because after all, I am a man who dares to mention PMS) I should point out that I have a daughter who, when she was a teenager, I have seen doubled over in pain and crying because of her premenstral cramps. Even though I have not directly felt the pain of this disorder, I certainly have lived through it.
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