What did you want to be when you were a little kid? I wanted to be a ballerina until I saw Lynda Carter spin into Wonder Woman on my black-and-white TV. Sure, I had already seen Christopher Reeves as Superman. He was pretty great and all, but the only quasi-strong woman in that story is […]
March 15, 2013
In this Tired Marketing Fail I am actually calling myself out as much as anyone else. As many regular readers know, I suffer from a variety of allergies to things in the natural world, as well as products at the grocery store, to things in the medicine cabinet. For the past few months I’ve been […]
March 14, 2013
Here we go again with another Tired Marketing Fail! Exhibit A: “Daddy’s Cup Cake” pajamas sold in the girl’s section at Osh Kosh B’Gosh. Message: Girls need only be sweet and pretty! Exhibit B: From the same store. These toddler t-shirts were marketed to boys. While I think the little chick is cute, I wonder […]
February 20, 2013
Now this particular TMF: Tired Marketing Fail hits closer to home than most because Andrea Shindeldecker of Oak Park, Illinois is a mom after my own heart. You see, her five-year-old daughter LOVES Spiderman! Sure, other superheroes are great and all, but Spidey is tops. Sound like another little girl you’ve heard about on this […]
February 10, 2013
Here’s a great example of Tired Marketing Fail being called out. We are not alone! This comes via Facebook from I Fucking Love Science:
February 8, 2013
NPR reports that a new three-book set of the classic L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables series features a startling makeover of the famously freckled red-head. She’s… blonde? And not nearly the tween (to use modern parlance) that the book series begins with. To wit, from the original book (p. 11 in my well-worn copy): […]
December 28, 2012
So after all our hopes and dreams for a holiday season without gender traps disguised as gifts, my daughter got this: It is her first princess-themed item and I was equally dismayed that someone gave it to her as I was by her enthusiastic response to it. Clock it: At two-and-a-half years old, my daughter […]
December 17, 2012
Welcome to the final stretch of the holiday season. If you’ve procrastinated your holiday shopping, check out the Feminist Parent’s Gift Guide here. But for those of us who’ve already braved the big-box stores (or who only have big-box stores as an option because everything else closed down in the recession), you’ve no doubt realized […]
December 14, 2012
Perhaps it is the natural out-growth of keeping an eagle-eye out for Tired Marketing Fails or it is just the nature of being a feminist parent, but I find shopping for my toddler to be the hardest of my entire holiday gift list. We do our best to give our kids an environment that is […]
December 12, 2012
Elf you: Are people really taking the whole Elf on the Shelf thing this seriously? I thought that whole thing was a marketing scam. Apparently, I’m not alone. And PS: I am way too tired for this shit. When less is more: I’ve been following Grist’s #shiftthegift discussion about doubling-down on less materialism for the […]
May 14, 2013
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