Women and sex ���for sale���? That is the impression you get when you visit the market. Is it right on our part to use women as seductive marketing tools? What has a woman got to do with exclusive men���s products like shaving-kit, anyway?
FOR NOW, if you don’t agree with me, then my dear friend, just stroll out and try to catch a glimpse of the numerous ‘customer care centres’ (which hardly care!) or the reception of any office or hotel. What do you find common in all of them? The sex factor stands out. Call-centres or the reception desks of offices and hotels are ‘women-ed’ and not manned.
Now, here we go - women, delicacy, femininity and sex; these are what sell today. I will definitely be a carp if I launch a product without a woman attached to it, even if it is an exclusive product for men, like underwear or shaving kit; it doesn’t matter. Let us try to explore the market. Let us first consider the customer care centres or the big showrooms. Who is therein to receive you? A woman, of course. Now, let’s move to the reception of a hotel, hospital or any organisation for that matter. You find a woman here too. Then take a stroll to the market. Check out the hoardings, as you do. You find a woman here too. And the list goes on and on and on. So, the question arises, whether women are actually used because of their talent or because they are a seductive marketing tool?
No one underestimates a woman. But a woman endorsing a product meant only for men and revealing a lot of skin in the process is only seduction. Right from the early ages, a woman has been treated as someone who understands our problems and through love and affection, tries to console us when we are in grief. But does that really apply here? Are not women being used to attract more customers? So sex appeal is misused. So, to sum up, with the economy touching a new low, a creative marketing policy alone can guarantee the survival of a business. But it should not mean that the dignity of the fairer sex can be staked. Please accord some respect to the fairer sex. After all, their sentiment has to be honoured. Remember, she is somebody’s daughter and somebody’s mother.
.I fully endorse your views. However, to my astonishement, women themselves have to take a fair share of the blame. Men are scared for opposing this, because various women organisations would get after them. Media will never oppose this portrayal of women, because it has become one of the pillars of market.
The women have to take this fight, there will be many educated men who can render support.
Col N Bhatnagar