The Speed Stick theory: Shoddy Goods 037
4It’s funny to look at the design differences in the Men’s vs Women’s branding of very similar products. I also love finding the weirdest things that seem like they suddenly need to be gendered for no clear reason. My favorite, so far, is the chocolate-covered bread sticks called Pocky - I don’t have any idea what is different about Men’s Pocky than…Pocky. But there it is.
And of course, there’s a whole subreddit.
Have you seen any hilariously unnecessarily masculine or feminine product designs?
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Men and Apricots need different shampoo!
@rockblossom
I always never liked food fragrances. I rather people smelled of dirt or grass. Mostly because food smells make me hungry. (And Axe makes me vomit.)
Though with this, I’m not sure if “for men” would be appetizing or not.
I assume when you’re talking about soap you’re talking about the Duke Cannons and Dr. Squatches of the world?
Doesn’t The Rock have his own soaps and deodorants now, too?
This is probably my age but the Speed Stick design I prefer, of all the ones from the article, were the early 90s ones with the brighter colors on them.
Pocky sticks are from Glico, home of delicious Japanese curry for men and women. Zeppin is one of my faves. Men like it too. https://yoyojapanstore.com/products/glico-zeppin-japanese-curry-roux-blocks-medium-hot-175g?currency=USD&variant=49310623924520&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&stkn=0e8cb2b7aecb&utm_source=ggshoping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US1&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAqCoYDpgIDcDi45oYFr3NyTX8a2rj&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqIm_BhDnARIsAKBYcmtWrxgrvOVb7yMBrJY0Bu9ulT_S-r0mQVbjjkxza_L5nC2O06m7jhoaArl3EALw_wcB
Probably the biggest difference between men’s and women’s products is the pink tax - where products marketed to women cost more. The products are usually identical other than the color.
I’ve always cared more for what something smelled like than what it looked like when it comes to personal care items. In most cases the men’s products smell better. I ain’t smelling like lavender and I ain’t smelling like a rose. But then again when I was younger I wore Drakkar
Speed Stick can package itself in used grenades for all I care, if they’d just bring back the Musk scent (which was never all that musky but was the only one I used for years and kept you from stinking like BO without making you stink like a 9th grader on a first date after getting into Dad’s cologne).
Nothing I’ve found comes close. Free the Musk (not that one)
The funniest “gendered” product I remember was one sold on Meh a while back – the Dude Wipes brand bidet for Men. It was black. Because men have black toilets, I guess?
Side note; YT personality Evan Edinger has commented on a number of things that are weird across different national cultures, and last year he encountered one that he didn’t expect. He lives in London, but he was going to be in Berlin for a while, and so he got a membership at a gym there. To his chagrin, he discovered (a bit too late) that in Germany, such facilities are segregated by sex despite having just one equipment floor. There are clearly marked “Women’s Area” and “Men’s Area” designations. The equipment in each is the same, but yet there is a rigid separation.
This was not the only oddity, but it’s the one semi-germane to the topic here.
“But my guess is that as us guys come to terms - sometimes kicking and screaming - with the much wider possibilities of what being a man can mean, our egos will need less reassurance from our deodorant.”
Cool, gender theory hot takes from my discount surplus website.
I’ve heard the Men’s Pocky thing is not to distinguish it from other Pocky for women, but rather that other Pocky is for children.
(No idea if that’s true, though)