Macho Nachos
October 22, 2015 4:03 PM   Subscribe

People prefer food in sexist packaging. Putting unhealthy food in macho masculine packaging, or healthy food in feminine-themed packaging, makes it taste nicer, and people are willing to pay more for it. According to a new paper(Direct paper link)
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory (79 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
But, it will transpire, not any people on MetaFilter.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:10 PM on October 22, 2015 [50 favorites]


If I'm getting home late from work and I'm at the CVS looking at the freezers my basic rule of thumb is anything with packaging that looks like it's aimed at women will leave me still hungry afterwards.
posted by Space Coyote at 4:12 PM on October 22, 2015 [15 favorites]


Oh no, Wolfdog. I quite like Men's Pocky. (I suppose the packaging isn't particularly sexist, just the name).
posted by nat at 4:14 PM on October 22, 2015 [4 favorites]


Whatever "healthy" means. Remember when fat was bad and carbs were good? And the other way around?
posted by Ideefixe at 4:18 PM on October 22, 2015 [4 favorites]


So does this mean that brogurt tastes like shit?
posted by C'est la D.C. at 4:19 PM on October 22, 2015


is 'gendered' the same as 'sexist'? i know it can be deeply silly but does that necessarily mean it's discriminatory?
posted by p3on at 4:30 PM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Doesn't it seem like people are responding more to the mixed messaging rather than male = unhealthy, etc? It seems like both muffins with consistent messaging were fine.
posted by bleep at 4:31 PM on October 22, 2015


It sounds like they tested stereotypical packaging (Mega Muffin with masculine packaging) against packaging that went against stereotype (Mega Muffin with feminine packaging), but didn't test against anything neutral.

if the genderered packaging was taken too far, the results actually switched. With the Mega Muffin labelled as "The Muffin For Real Men" alongside the same football imagery used previously, participants were on average willing to pay less for it than when the packaging contained the football imagery only.

This actually strikes me as sort of a subconscious class thing, which is why I wish there had been a neutral food item as a control. Subtly gendered stuff (Lean Cuisine, Skinny Girl wine) always strikes me as, for lack of a better word, basic, and when you get into "MANLY FOOD FOR REAL MEN" territory I start to think of Wal Mart.
posted by sunset in snow country at 4:31 PM on October 22, 2015 [10 favorites]


I've never been tempted to try Men's Pocky. I know the package says it's dark chocolate, but the packaging makes me on a semi-conscious level convinced that it tastes like shoe leather.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 4:36 PM on October 22, 2015 [6 favorites]


I try to avoid eating anything that's too obviously aimed at men because when the marketing and/or packaging are that on-the-nose you can safely assume the people who made it are trying to kill you.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:39 PM on October 22, 2015 [9 favorites]


i just want to talk about the hilarrible phenomenon of POWERFUL YOGURT forever

Really though I can't believe they restrained themselves from putting an erect penis on the label.
posted by poffin boffin at 4:39 PM on October 22, 2015 [18 favorites]


I do like Coke Zero, which is supposedly aimed at men. I also like men's toiletries because I feel so metal, like 'eff yeah I have black shampoo, it goes with my black soul'.

In other news, I am organizing an event later this year and the event's primary color is supposed to be pink. I have been having to avoid pink when buying swag because it's ridiculous how often the pink item is more expensive for no reason other than being gendered.
posted by tofu_crouton at 4:41 PM on October 22, 2015 [6 favorites]


PRIAPIC PINEAPPLE HABANERO FLAVOR
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:42 PM on October 22, 2015 [16 favorites]


I laugh at masculine yogurt. When I go shopping for groceries I bring old engine blocks that haven't been cleaned or degreased instead of reusable bags, and I ask the cashier to stuff all my groceries into the cylinder bore holes. It doesn't get more manly than that and the presence of rust and oil adds a nice touch to all my meals.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:43 PM on October 22, 2015 [38 favorites]


I hear you, tofu_crouton. My Old Spice deodorant is called "Savage BloodRoar" or something of the sort, there is a picture of a bear having warp spasms on the packaging, and I have to assume that rather than the "botanicals" womanly hygiene products are said to contain, it is made with real mulched-up apex predator parts and a bit of their puissance will transfer to me when I use it.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:46 PM on October 22, 2015 [36 favorites]


SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!!!!
posted by maryr at 4:48 PM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Won't you?
posted by maryr at 4:48 PM on October 22, 2015 [5 favorites]


Ok but what does it smell like because have you smelled bears, it's not nice.
posted by poffin boffin at 4:49 PM on October 22, 2015 [14 favorites]


Cheese, eggs and nuts should always be kept to n the house for snacking.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:49 PM on October 22, 2015


tbh i hope it's a nice jasmine/honeysuckle blend
posted by poffin boffin at 4:49 PM on October 22, 2015


So does this mean that brogurt tastes like shit?

*semen

i mean what do you think the bull's head is for?
posted by indubitable at 4:52 PM on October 22, 2015 [5 favorites]


I just realised that my first instinct when I see a food product with "mens" packaging is to not to buy the food because I just assume that it's probably loaded with sodium and calories, and when I see food with "womens" packaging I tend not to buy it because the portions are likely too small and not filling.

Dharma Initiative food packaging would probably work for me best honestly. Why yes, that package of MUFFINS looks like it would be yummy.
posted by littlesq at 4:58 PM on October 22, 2015 [16 favorites]


Researchers shocked to discover that humans like familiar stereotypes.

Hey, quit stereotyping us humans. I sincerely hate stereotypes because they hurt people and make our art, thinking, and conversations less interesting (and more misleading). But it makes sense people from a society conditioned to think in simple color-coded signaling systems more religiously than any other known to history would behave this way. It's simple behaviorism in action, not a profound insight into the human soul.
posted by saulgoodman at 4:58 PM on October 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


I also like men's toiletries because I feel so metal, like 'eff yeah I have black shampoo

I was unaware of the existence of black shampoo until I bought some in Japan once, not because of who it was marketed to, but because I figured out how to identify the hiragana for "shianpoo" or whatever for the first time and I needed some bad. When black stuff came out I was actually a bit freaked out. Still not totally sure it was shampoo but it did the job. So..I guess they make a black shampoo marketed to men here? I had no idea.

Anyways, Im gonna pitch an idea to Hunt's for a shampoo for men and make millions. DON'T FEED ME NO BALONEY I WANT A MANWICH SHAMPOO

Subtly gendered stuff (Lean Cuisine, Skinny Girl wine) always strikes me as, for lack of a better word, basic

So many times I wanted to buy Lean Cuisine, they look pretty yummy and so much healthier than the Cheesy-Salt-Bro-Lunch alternatives, but the reason I opted out was because they all seem to have chicken in them. Microwave chicken is horrid. Microwaved meat in general is suboptimal, but chicken is particularly bad. Give me anything else. Dumplings with the gross microwave meat all ground up with cabbage so I don't have to think about it. Tofu even, I don't care. Just not chicken.
posted by Hoopo at 5:01 PM on October 22, 2015


Good news! Lean Cuisine now has black-background packaging, no doubt to make it a more acceptable option for men. Why, I can hear them now. "Bro! Let's go pound some Lean Cweez before we go mudding!" [a complicated fist-bumping ritual ensues]
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:06 PM on October 22, 2015 [7 favorites]


My Old Spice deodorant is called "Savage BloodRoar" or something of the sort

I don't understand why tampon companies don't jump on that. I don't want Lilly Soft, I want Savage Carnage brand tampons.
posted by littlesq at 5:06 PM on October 22, 2015 [41 favorites]


When it's that time, reach for Overlook Hotel Elevator brand tampons
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:12 PM on October 22, 2015 [49 favorites]


If “brogurt” isn't yet a euphemism, it's only through lack of exposure.
posted by acb at 5:23 PM on October 22, 2015 [9 favorites]


Before this thread I also would have assumed that brogurt was baby batter.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:31 PM on October 22, 2015 [9 favorites]


I would totally buy a TV dinner in the shape of Bobby Sherman. He's a dreamboat.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:36 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think you could make a killing though selling laxatives that weren't marketed as gentle overnight relief but rather as powerful and immediate bowel-clearing spasms, with a big warning label that you should seat yourself comfortably on the toilet and maybe put on a motorcycle helmet before taking the laxative because bubba you are going for a ride.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:37 PM on October 22, 2015 [49 favorites]


ASS ROCKETS

REAL FIREPOWER FOR MANLY MEN
posted by poffin boffin at 5:49 PM on October 22, 2015 [28 favorites]


I love dumb marketing experiments that will eventually lead society as a whole to leap (BASE JUMP) like manly lemmings off a cliff.
posted by benzenedream at 5:50 PM on October 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


Before this thread I also would have assumed that brogurt was baby batter.

Bisquick™ test marketed this, but it turns out that babies don't have any money.
posted by indubitable at 6:14 PM on October 22, 2015 [7 favorites]


Metafilter: a bit of their puissance will transfer to me when I use it
posted by lalochezia at 6:18 PM on October 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


FIGHT MILK! CAW!

I'm trying to think of aggressively gendered packaging for foostuff here (at least, the place I buy stuff), but other than HOLY SHIT FLAMES AND PEPPERS AND BLACK AND RED AND MORE FLAMES to spicy stuff, or cereal (either aimed at kids or slimming fibers for women), food is just food. I'll try to pay more attention next time, but I don't remember any example where I went "really? this bullshit?"
posted by lmfsilva at 6:27 PM on October 22, 2015


Before this thread I also would have assumed that brogurt was baby batter.

Brogurt: The "please don't get it in my eye" yogurt that everyone loves.

I might just not be sufficiently observant, but the gendered foods I have noticed were all in the frozen foods aisle and the alcohol section. Is this a growing phenomenon?
posted by Dip Flash at 6:35 PM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


"dude wipes" were the silliest thing I've ever seen and I think they're selling like hot cakes. Finally men don't have to be embarrassed by using a wet nap that brings their masculinity into question.
posted by Karaage at 6:50 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I might just not be sufficiently observant, but the gendered foods I have noticed were all in the frozen foods aisle and the alcohol section. Is this a growing phenomenon?

Frozen foods and alcohol? It's all that snake people's bodies can handle.
posted by PMdixon at 6:51 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I might just not be sufficiently observant, but the gendered foods I have noticed were all in the frozen foods aisle and the alcohol section. Is this a growing phenomenon?

You can now find it in such exciting places as the cereal, the dairy aisle, the candy bar row, the jerky section, and even salads. Though I feel like there has been a greater rise in MANLY FOODSTUFFS, since terrible diet versions of lady food have been shaming me for as long as I've been grocery shopping. It's a big part of the reason why I shop at Trader Joe's as much as possible, where most of the marketing is going towards making me taste like a pumpkin pie.
posted by jetlagaddict at 6:51 PM on October 22, 2015 [12 favorites]


I used to work at a small mom-and-pop natural foods store in a very rural area. On many more than one occasion, a man and woman would walk up to the door of the store, and the woman would enter while the man stayed outside, milling around awkwardly (we eventually put a little metal patio table and chair out there for this purpose). A few times, the guy had to tell his companion something and instead of coming inside the store to find her, he'd stand at the threshold and shout. (It was a very small little storefront, so this usually worked.)

Those health food cooties apparently will just make your balls fall clean off.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:08 PM on October 22, 2015 [13 favorites]


Not fall off but eventually (after sufficient exposure) they can spontaneously turn into lentils. Worth the risk? Opinions differ.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:17 PM on October 22, 2015 [9 favorites]


Can anyone think of the earliest egregious example of gendered products beyond the obvious (women's vs. men's razors, etc.) ? I'm thinking of "Manwich" (1969), but there must have been plenty before that....
posted by tzikeh at 7:18 PM on October 22, 2015


Finally men don't have to be embarrassed by using a wet nap that brings their masculinity into question.

REAL men just shoot the poo off their butt with big guns.
posted by poffin boffin at 7:21 PM on October 22, 2015 [4 favorites]


how else are you going to clean the fear vomit off of your speed suit?
posted by indubitable at 7:25 PM on October 22, 2015


When it's that time, reach for Overlook Hotel Elevator brand tampons

I would buy those. So hard. Marketing genius.
posted by Go Banana at 7:56 PM on October 22, 2015 [6 favorites]


The fun thing is that this is more advanced in the US. Like I know in Japan we have black toiletries for men and Men's Pocky but then you arrive at LAX and it's cranked up to 5,000 and all the portions are ten times as large and it feels like you're surroundedby giant boxes of sugar and cheese just labeled "GRRARGHGH!!!!" and "WWRRGGHVLBLNL!!!!" while the women's section is a rainbow of tiny ballerinas lined up at the bar.
posted by No-sword at 8:56 PM on October 22, 2015 [8 favorites]


Barre.
posted by maryr at 9:01 PM on October 22, 2015 [5 favorites]


I hear you, tofu_crouton. My Old Spice deodorant is called "Savage BloodRoar" or something of the sort, there is a picture of a bear having warp spasms on the packaging, and I have to assume that rather than the "botanicals" womanly hygiene products are said to contain, it is made with real mulched-up apex predator parts and a bit of their puissance will transfer to me when I use

You're not kidding - current Old Spice varieties include "Bearglove" and "Wolfthorn" and "Hawkridge." Of course intentionally comical exaggerated manliness has become their brand. Myself I use "Original," because my dad does. That kind of masculine inheritance is more my speed.
posted by atoxyl at 9:14 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Canned pudding: proto-brogurt?
posted by generalist at 9:25 PM on October 22, 2015


My girlfriend uses Bearglove. I borrowed it once in a pinch. It's a lot more delicate and floral than I expected.

Of course intentionally comical exaggerated manliness has become their brand.

I do have to give them some credit for how thoroughly they execute this.
posted by brennen at 9:32 PM on October 22, 2015


poffin boffin: "REAL men just shoot the poo off their butt with big guns."

Too showy. Real men use steel wool.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 9:39 PM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh man you guys I just want to say this thread has made me laugh so hard that I am full on crying, like not just a few tears. This is the best thread. Oh my god.
posted by town of cats at 10:22 PM on October 22, 2015 [4 favorites]


Steel wool? Okay in a pinch, if the wire brush has gone missing.
posted by um at 10:24 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Real men clean their butts? Bears don't clean their butts. Now dogs...dogs of all genders clean their butts like a Real Man.
posted by maxwelton at 10:28 PM on October 22, 2015


Now dogs...dogs of all genders clean their butts like a Real Man.

What, dragging their butts across the carpet?
posted by inparticularity at 11:14 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


You're not kidding - current Old Spice varieties include "Bearglove" and "Wolfthorn" and "Hawkridge."

These are redeemed when you realize they are the houses of one of the American wizarding schools.
posted by yasaman at 11:17 PM on October 22, 2015 [15 favorites]


Reminds me of the old Yorkie ad. Never not hilarious.
posted by Summer at 1:53 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


So "dude wipes" are moist toilet tissue? I assumed they were the wipes I keep in my car that are thicker fabric, tiny polygrains, and some industrial cleaner that I use whenever my car breaks down. Cleans hands fantastically and has the bonus of making your hands smell like toxic lemons for the rest of the day...

Personally, if I'm wiping something on my arse, I want it called "super soft kitten and duckling wipes infused with aloe vera".
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 2:31 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


"dude wipes" were the silliest thing I've ever seen and I think they're selling like hot cakes. Finally men don't have to be embarrassed by using a wet nap that brings their masculinity into question.

Are they scented with WD-40 or something?
posted by acb at 2:39 AM on October 23, 2015


TV food advertising is a million times worse in this respect. 7 p.m. cable news (watched to keep older relative company): ads for Boost-like drinks and Special K, aimed at white women. Apparently living entirely on liquids is an acceptable way of existing on a constant diet. This holds no appeal for me, having seen another relative die of cancer over weeks while she was able to consume only Ensure and applesauce.

Late night horror on FX: bro-tastic food such as Carl's "Eat like you mean it," chicken fries (a very bad idea), and burritos stuffed with hamburgers that are stuffed with nachos that are topped with spicy cheese.
posted by bad grammar at 3:09 AM on October 23, 2015


I wish it was all collected in one place i could just link to, but one of my friends has taken to posting a new "mens food product" like brogurt, bronuts, etc every couple days. There seems to be literally hundreds, even just in america. And that's before he branched out in to posting shit like mens qtips. It's like half his facebook posts at this point.

It's the scale of this that blows my mind. It's not just a couple brands, or stuff sold at walmart or some easy thing to pot shot like that. Whole foods and all the artisanal toast co-ops stock more than a couple things like that as well.
posted by emptythought at 4:34 AM on October 23, 2015


Now dogs...dogs of all genders clean their butts like a Real Man.

What, dragging their butts across the carpet?


My big boy cat (may he rest in peace) once mortified me in front of company by streaking from his litter box, and, in one smooth move, hopping up onto the coffee table, dragging his asshole across the length of the lace tablecloth and graceful dismounting off the other end while my company looked on in horror.

He was apparently quite secure in his masculinity. Real toms wipe with lace!
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:42 AM on October 23, 2015 [18 favorites]


Remember when fat was bad and carbs were good? And the other way around?

It's like the weather in the North-east, just wait five minutes, it'll change.
posted by Fizz at 6:06 AM on October 23, 2015


Bearglove

Floral and "delicate"?

It smells like watermelon...

... all day long... mmmmmm....
posted by jkaczor at 7:03 AM on October 23, 2015


I always think of these things as impulse buys. Are you feeling non-gender-compliant? If you're a woman, do you feel unhealthy, non-glowing, maybe overweight? If you're a man, do you feel not-big, not-strong, not good with tools? If you are in that state of mind and wandering through the supermarket, buying one of these will give a brief respite from your anxiety that you're doing your assigned gender wrong.

Old Spice is genius in that they turn it up to 11, if my husband liked that stuff, I'd buy it for him.

I can't find the ad, but I saw one lately that had a woman seeing her husband playing at a teaparty with his girls, flowers in his hair, and the ad asks something like "Has your husband been un-manned?" (I think it was a different word). And then said to buy their product (some kind of food) to make him "your man" again.

And then I got angry, because a dad playing tea party with his daughters is an awesome dad, eff you advertisers.
posted by emjaybee at 7:16 AM on October 23, 2015 [7 favorites]


I pointed out recently to my husband how many of my toiletries and shower products involve food: vanilla soap, exfoliator with rice chunks, citrus shampoo, passionfruit-scented hand cream, and my deodorant is green tea. His is stuff like FREEZE RAGE DEODORANT or MANROAR SHAMPOO. No delicate hints of florals or citrus or elderflower for him, except when he uses my facewash. The gentlest-sounding thing in his cabinet is talcum-scented; that is, smells like nothing.

I bet guys don't even have the option of buying body milk.
posted by tracicle at 7:36 AM on October 23, 2015


Any processed, packaged food that needs to market to you in any way is not going to be in your best interests to consume. (Yes, this is the "I don't even own a TV" of this thread.) Seriously though, it's not the worst idea to start ignoring those aisles completely.
posted by naju at 7:36 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Old Spice is genius in that they turn it up to 11

I admit it: I buy Old Spice deodorant because I enjoy their ads. I mean, I figure all the goo-extrusion deodorants are the same crap from the same 55-gallon drums, and the old spice costs about the same as any other brand, so why not? Also I wouldn't want to risk making Terry Crews angry.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:43 AM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Shamrock Farms has been selling a brand extra-high protein milk called "Rockin' Refuel" which appears to be marketed to men based on the packaging. I've wondered how many men buy those versus the bottles that have cute cows on them.
posted by fuse theorem at 7:54 AM on October 23, 2015


Isn't this the entire basis of Guy Fieri's success?
posted by ryanshepard at 8:10 AM on October 23, 2015


I pointed out recently to my husband how many of my toiletries and shower products involve food: vanilla soap, exfoliator with rice chunks, citrus shampoo, passionfruit-scented hand cream, and my deodorant is green tea

Due to a longstanding love affair with food (and a weird aversion to floral and perfumy scents), I had always purchased shampoos and body washes that smelled like something I'd want to eat. Marriage ended that. My wife has no great love for rigid gender roles, but a man who smells like apricots is apparently a bridge too far.
posted by Octaviuz at 8:11 AM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Also I wouldn't want to risk making Terry Crews angry.

He would just sit you down with a latte and talk to you about shattering gender norms and how the patriarchy poisons young minds.

also he would prolly do that thing where he flexes one boob and then the other
posted by poffin boffin at 8:13 AM on October 23, 2015 [17 favorites]


He would just sit you down with a latte and talk to you about shattering gender norms and how the patriarchy poisons young minds.

But he would be so disappointed with me. I don't think I could face that.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:17 AM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


true, that would be far more crushing than one of his enormous fists
posted by poffin boffin at 8:46 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


but not one of his boobs
posted by PMdixon at 12:37 PM on October 23, 2015


"My girlfriend uses Bearglove. I borrowed it once in a pinch. It's a lot more delicate and floral than I expected."

This supports a theory I have that scented products like deodorant are labeled cross-gender, at least those marketed for men. That is, the name on the product has "manly" connotations, but the scent itself has been tested to appeal to women, because they are the actual market (for a presumed heterosexually partnered customer base, of course). So, not necessarily a stereotypically "girly" scent like baby powder or lavender, but something that I presume focus group testing shows women react positively to.

As an example, Right Guard for years has carried a "men's" deodorant in a scent called "Chill." Clearly Guy Fieri was the target for that name. And my wife loves it; the first and only time she ever called out something like a deodorant and suggested I buy and use more of it was when I started wearing "Chill," which I had purchased because it was on sale that day. I smelled it carefully, and it resembles nothing so much as an apple pie with cinnamon (or possibly Apple Jacks cereal). Not a blue icy glacier or the top of Mt. Everest. No; delicious baked goods.

Wouldn't you know, "Chill" has been discontinued, but I'm sure the marketing evil geniuses will come up with a reasonable substitute. The new one called "Energy" has some promise. It smells of Piña Colada. In the meantime, over the summer, I went on Amazon and essentially cornered the market in Chill deodorant sticks. I have like 20 of them under the sink right now.
posted by JimInLoganSquare at 12:48 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


how did our grocery shelves get all Tom of Finland?

also: there's a place around the corner called Cugert as some sort of like Mediterranean yogurt sauce thing and I just can't bring myself to try it
posted by klangklangston at 2:41 PM on October 23, 2015


Bearglove

Surely the fisting connotations are not accidental?

This supports a theory I have that scented products like deodorant are labeled cross-gender, at least those marketed for men. That is, the name on the product has "manly" connotations, but the scent itself has been tested to appeal to women, because they are the actual market (for a presumed heterosexually partnered customer base, of course).

It's not just that it appeals to women -- the marketing is done with the understanding that a lot of men's products are bought by women, because they do a lot of household shopping. If she doesn't like the way it smells, she probably won't buy it.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:29 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


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