Check out what HP thinks women want in a computer.
Their Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam is a laptop that looks as “stylish and alluring” as a clutch. A combo computer/clutch? Hmm. And stylish is okay, but alluring?
The women I know don’t buy computers that entice while dangling from their hand but computers that are as smart and hardworking as they are.
And lest we think it’s only the laptop that allures (which means “to bait,” by the way), HP dreams up a marketing message that tells women they can play the temptress.
Their ad shows a model in a vampy pose wearing a thigh-skimming dress and go-down-on-me stiletto heels. The small print says this is “the first designer notebook to dazzle runways – and boardrooms.”
Gross.
I guarantee you some guy dreamed up this marketing concept, because it reads like a blatant male fantasy. I also guarantee you HP lost a lot of savvy women who might have bought a small, flowery laptop had it been positioned differently.
Besides, baiting men in the boardroom? HP, women own the boardroom.
Hey, Lynn.
Just reminds me again why I’ve been a Mac lover all my life. Still love Apple’s old campaign, “Think different.” No sexism there. Just images of Einstein, Jim Henderson of Muppets fame, among others, with a fair number of women thrown in (Rosa Park, Lucille Ball, Joan Baez, Maria Callas and other “crazy ones,” as the ads called them.) A brilliant campaign.
The commercials always started out with a voiceover by Richard Dreyfus, “Here’s to the crazy ones…” a reference to those who think differently, including, by association, us “crazy ones” who use Mac. Because we’re brilliant and think differently, too, right?
I am surprised that the ad agency HP hired to do this promotion took the low road and risked offending so many women. Hadn’t seen this campaign yet.
Thanks for making me aware.
Go Macs! : )
Are you offendend by the commercial? Maybe it was directed at men and not women. You might not buy it but I am sure some men would.
Imagine a guy would want to buy such a laptop for his other half. A gesture of I love you or sorry I messed up. Now you might be thinking, women don’t need men to buy a laptop. True! It’s not about the product but about the “you are in my thoughts”.
I am sure the Mac was a male idea to get women to “think different”. Now, does that change your view about the Mac? No, because it’s a great product. It’s just marketing. You should know better
Hm, so you’re saying a guy might buy the flowered laptop rather than, say, a bunch of flowers as a gift? Good point, there – one I hadn’t considered before. I’d be really curious to see HPs sales figures after the launch of the campaign. Guess that tells the bottom line for whether ad worked or not.
I saw this machine in an airport and thought “Wow! that is a little gaudy!” It was huge, and seemed pretty cumbersome. I use a Pavillion HP multimedia notepad and it is not even meant for business. (more bells and whistles then I use…but I love it because it is small, and easy to use. I have beat it up pretty bad and it keeps on ticking. I also think men invented nylons. Now, there’s a stupid idea!
Incredible to me that money and time have been invested to come up with products and marketing campaigns that are so patronizing to women! Thanks for pointing this out, Lynn. Don’t stop!!