On the flipside, the title: "Moms Rock. Superphones help them roll."
"What makes superphones so super? Just like moms: They're great at multitasking... They make every minute count... They don't just work hard -- they look good too."
(!!!)
Inside: "Super selection for super moms" -- and this bit of advice: "If your kids are old enough for a phone, you can add them to your plan."
Gee, thanks, B.e.ll.Can.a.da, for rubbing the absence of my child (who should be a teenager bugging me to get a cellphone, if she hadn't already sweet-talked her dad into getting her one) in my face (and not just once but over and over again in a single piece of marketing material). Flattery may get you everywhere, but you are barking up the WRONG tree here. :p
FYI -- and for some reason, this seems to be a hard thing to grasp -- just because I'm a WOMAN does NOT automatically mean that I am a MOM. I know that moms are a favourite demographic in the marketing world these days -- but there's a growing number of us out there who, for whatever reason, don't have kids. (Although my guess is that the vast majority of us do have cellphones).
Many of us are great at multi-tasking and making every minute count. And we look pretty damned good too, if I do say so myself. ; )
Sincerely,
Me
I'm sure marketers know they annoy us with their "mom's rock" marketing. But for them, the benefits outweigh the risks. Moms love to be told how amazing they are, and so this appeals to their (much larger) target market. Just makes women like us feel like we don't count. Grrrr. I'm sorry you got this. It would make me want to boycott the company!
ReplyDelete@ Mali, the thought did occur to me... but I am (still) even more ticked off at their main competitor (over an incredibly rude telemarketer who called me about five years ago -- I can hold a grudge for a loooonnngggg time...!).
ReplyDeleteOuch, with your name on it. It's a good reminder of why I avoid advertising material, but if it looks like a letter addressed to you it is that much more painful...
ReplyDeleteTo me you are Katie's mom, and I think you rock. Even if you didn't have a cellphone!
@loribeth, I hold grudges too, especially around businesses that hold on the the idea that moms are the only ones who multitask, have busy days, juggle priorities. I'm not diminishing the work of moms, but I feel like my own days (and hard work) are constantly questioned.
ReplyDeleteI struggle often with business and networking groups for women and their mom-centric programming. Moms are not the only ones that need some work/life balance!!
Thanks for letting me vent too. :-)
What an insensitive and off base ad campaign. I know it probably paid off for them too, which is sad.
ReplyDeleteCompanies just LOVE to assume that everyone has kids, don't they? Unreal. It has to be one of my biggest pet peeves with advertisements these days. Just because I "should" be a mom (says society) doesn't mean I am one or am even capable of being one. Grrrr. I'm sorry you had to see that.
ReplyDeleteHow about sending it back to the marketing department with pretty much exactly what you wrote on your blog. It is all about $$... making a particular demographic feel good about itself for the sole purpose of selling them an item. Bothering me more than anything today was the commercial for the upcoming Tori Spelling reality tv show... which I've never seen, of course. I am sooo not into reality tv... but she stated that "bump is the new black," and I was wondering what the heck does that mean... and so I actually googled and got 13,300 hits for that expression... a bump is the new "must have" accesory. Pathetic and Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI get these things and I want to send them back a sample of my day - starting at 6:45am and ending at 11pm.
ReplyDeleteAnd I want them to tell me, exactly how is it that I don't multi-task?
I don't get to plunk my VP in front of the TV or hire a babysitter so that I can get some work done!