Gender Differences in Toy Commercials
Claire Johnson, Stella Hajnasiewicz, Shelby Simpson, Baron Schleeter, Janice Langfeld, Christine Crimmins & Sam Law
Barbie: Then & Now
Older Girls
Little Girls
Little Boys
- Commercials have "fun" and "girly" music playing
- Always young, happy girl play with the toy
- Rarely mentions price or toy functions, focuses on how "cool" the toy is
- Bright pinks & purples
- Words like "Design" "beautiful" "perfect" "amazing" "Friends" "You can be just like..." "mom" "take care of..."
- Background has flowers or scenes
- Often shows toys with extra extentions
- 60's toy commercial is similar to today's
- Most commericals are more gender neutral
- The colors are more neutral and they feature both boys and girls and parents.
- Commercials are targeted towards the kids and they use simple language
- Commercials will often sing about the toy to get the childrens attention.
- Interesting to also note that many of the commercials are talking to parents... "Let your child build and create" "Make your child happy" They market to the parents rather than the children.
- Although this age group tends to be a lot more gender neutral when it comes to parents there are still many gendered ads
- The colors are very "girly" and show a young girl enoying her new princess bed.
- Overall, the toddler age group is a lot more marketed to parents and therefore more gender neutral, but it still has some gendered areas.
- The advertising/commercials for this age group of boys weren't that different from those of girls. They were gender neutral for the most part.
- Showing plenty of blue color schemes and the refereces to cars in the bedroom. And with the Workshop toy, it shows boys playing with tools and such and it's also called "Tikes Tough Workshop". Emphasising boys to be tough/manly.
- Something I found interesting was that it wasn't until I went to the stores website that I saw definite gender differences in the products. As opposed to doing a broad search for toys for toddlers
Continued...
Older Boys
How markers attempt to appeal to Parents
Today, two-thirds of mothers with children under twelve are Gen-Xers. Not only that, but our ascent into motherhood has paralleled the ascent of what might be called the zero-to-three market: the first segment in what is known as “cradle-to-grave” marketing, representing more than $20 billion a year.
Since the 1980s, kids marketers have been refining ways of mining the ‘tween market: children between the ages of six and eleven. This age group has always been brand-conscious, but as one long-time kids marketer put it, “it’s dribbled down” to even younger children – via their Generation-X parents..
- majority of the ads had male voice overs with rockin’ music and action packed exaggerations of how “awesome” that particular product was.
- Now days TV and internet are key sources to where kids are learning how to fit-in in their society.
- I noted how action packed and fast paced the commercials were on TV. The voices were that of a man and the main figures were super hero type or some kind of fearless being.
- The commercials and ads are aimed to keep kids engaged in whatever it is that they are watching. Loud voices, bright coloring, and the fast pace is enough to keep a young mind interested.
- Often in shows like the fairly odd parents or sponge bob the male character is the one running the show. The action revolves around this little guy who is an agent of change, a shot caller regardless of their level of knowledge and they often complete these daily adventures with friends.
- The episodes and commercials on TV aimed towards these boys are often violent in some form or another. Whether it be the super hero “beating up” the bad guy or an ad showing how cool their toy sword is. The stereotypes are clear.
Marketing to Parents
- marketing to mothers; todays advertisers are able to target special interest in parenting groups and their buying power through blogs written by moms, for moms.
- Generation x parents often gravitate toward products that offer straight forward solutions to problems.
- Power moms or "chief influences" are key groups that advertisers follow. These parents are inclined to share information with and to make reccomendations to family and friends
- Most moms are more likely to buy a product from a company that they see to be socially responsible or to have a cause.
Difference between Marketing to Boys & Girls
Gender neutral toys
- Marketers spend $17 billion every year on marketing towards children.
- Children are easy targets because they can't tell the difference between the TV show and the commercials.
- Kids represent an important demographic to marketers because in addition to their own purchasing power ( which is considerable) they influence their parents buying decisions and are the adult consumers of the future.
- parents today are willing to buy more for their kids because trends such as smaller family size, duel incomes and postponing having children until later in life mean that families have more disposable income. As well, guilt can play a role in spending decisions as time-stressed parents substitute material goods for time spent with their kids.
- Today's kids have more decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so kids are very vocal about what they want their parents to buy. "Pester Power" refers to children's ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Marketing to children is all about creating pester power, because advertisers know what a poweful force it can be.
Around the ages 3-7 children are begining to learn their ABC's and 123's
Will often use families including a brother and sister or a mom and dad to give children the feeling that the game/toy can be for anyone
Characters often used in gender neutral games/marketing:
- Mickey and Minnie mouse
- Frogs and Animals
- Dispicable Me (Minions)
- Sesame Street
- Bouncy Balls
Leap Pad- has gender neutral games geared towards learning.
Legos
Stuffed animals
Play-Doh