Zipstick 2200mAh Rechargeable Power Bank
- It’s a 2200mAh power bank with a built-in flashlight and 110dB panic alarm
- “Zipstick” as in “lipstick” because it’s designed to look like lipstick, get it?
- Acoustic Research says it’s “for her”, but we welcome anyone to use it, no matter what gender is listed on their birth certficate
- Model: PB22SIRFL (OK, let’s see: Power Battery 22 with SIRen and FLashlight - unlike the product itself, this model number ain’t pretty, but like the product itself, it gets a bunch of jobs done)
"For her"? For real?
Please, people, let’s agree to eliminate the following two words from all product marketing, especially tech marketing, the way we’ve deleted them from the name of this product: “for her”.
We sympathize with the marketers who have to find some way to differentiate a commoditized product like a power bank. God knows we have enough trouble figuring out what to say about them in this very space. It’s easy to see how an idea like “what if it’s… for ladies?” might come up in a desperate, flailing marketing meeting. And how everyone in the room might cling to it like a splinter from the one true cross, like the Northwest Passage to an undiscovered fortune in battery revenue.
We’ll give Acoustic Research credit for learning enough from the “Bic for Her” fiasco not to make these pink or purple.
The panic alarm is a nice touch, a novel way to take advantage of the built-in battery capacity that actually has somewhat more specific relevance to women, although men need help on the street sometimes too. And at least they didn’t also turn it into that other, similarly-shaped gadget that runs on battery power and is very popular with women for, let’s say, “relieving tension”. Admirable restraint there.
But a gadget doesn’t have to look like lipstick for women to notice it. You don’t need silliness like that pseudo-Calvin Klein logo. You can make stuff look as stylish as you please without the implicit pat on the head of “for her”. Women don’t need all that to figure out whether or not they want a portable phone charger. They’re like people that way.
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Zipstick 2200mAh Rechargeable Power Bank 84
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It's Singin' Cowboy Time: Fridy 9
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Beyond a flashlight and a panic alarm, what would you most like to see built into a portable battery? 40
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I missed the big 1000 49 -
I've fallen off the wagon 11 -
Does your home theater set up have a rats nest of cables? 16 -
Cool new GIF maker app from Google Research 27 -
Happy thread 39