On my long drive back to Long Beach from Tahoe this morning, I decided to listen to a book on tape for the first time. I was hooked within minutes, and within an hour I was surprised to find myself relating many of the situations of the story to what we're learning about in class. The book was "Can You Keep a Secret?" by Sophie Kinsella. The main character in the story Emma was working for a sports drink company out of England that had expanded to men's clothing, snack bars, and other athletic products. When Emma went to Scotland to meet with an established business partner, she was surprised that they decided to dissolve their relationship because Emma's company was to macho and male oriented, and they wanted to be gender neutral by marketing for women as well. They went on to examine several products and slogans that were targeted just for men or were extremely masculine. As the story developed, I noticed other instances while the company was trying to turn around but continued to negate women by always referring to "he" or "him" or "his" when describing their targeted marketing group. At one point, some marketing executives presented a new dring with ovaries on the can, targeting women. Really?
This story gave me another perspective on the sport product market and how they have changed, are trying to change, and still need to change.
Courtney O'Connor
KIN 338I sec 04
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