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Sexist Samsung ad alienates female buyers

4 comments

Jane Osmond
WVoN co-editor

As I was catching up on Twitter this morning, I came across this post by BitchMedia.

It refers to a Samsung camera being too smart for British reality television personality Amy Childs.

Sigh.

In a recent WVoN post I wrote about how advertisers are out of touch with their audiences, and this ad is living proof that Samsung have completely disregarded potential female purchasers.

As Debbie DeGabrielle, CMO, Visible Technologies commented:

“Women purchase for themselves, their families and their friends. They make a significant percentage of all purchase decisions and yet advertisers often don’t really understand them, or what motivates them to buy.

So why do advertisers constantly appeal to men, when so many of these decisions are being made by women? In my view it reflects how out of step many advertisers are with today’s purchase decision cycle.

We live in a consumer generated content market, where on-line conversations, likes, raves, and recommendations, often spread virally without any intervention from the advertiser.

It does not surprise me that if they don’t know how to engage with the consumer in the channel of their choice, that targeting the message appropriately also alludes them”.

Given that it is not possible for Samsung (and all the other guilty parties – they know who they are) not to be aware of this, then I can only believe that it is trolling.

In other words Samsung and others are throwing this kind of crap out there in order to get attention.

So if we (and by we I mean women) object, they get publicity, if we don’t the sexism stays there.

Oh what to do?

Well, NOT BUY THEIR PRODUCTS.  Let’s do that.

This morning I tweeted this:

Seriously guys-this ad is stupid.You are in danger of alienating women who make most purchase decisions http://alturl.com/hoghk #AdFAIL

At the last count it had been retweeted to over 10,000 people – THAT IS RIGHT SAMSUNG 10,000 PEOPLE – have seen the ad.

And, when this is published, it will be tweeted to a further 10,000 people and be available to our 40,000 monthly visitors.

All well and good Samsung might think – free advertising.

BUT my networks are predominately female and the retweets will be going to a predominately female audience, an audience which advertisers (overwhelmingly managed by men) are ignoring at their peril.

But just to be clear Samsung – that is possibly 60,000 women who will not now buy your products or at least think twice before they do.

I know I will.

Well done boys.

  1. Samsung make rubbish phones anyway.

  2. What a shame… i actually own, and like, a number of Samsung’s products, but yes, this will make me reconsider before purchasing again.

    There’s a very similar attitude in a lot of Australian advertising “Oh, here, silly woman, you can’t handle X, so we, powerful smart men, have made this product easier for you”. Cars are a great example. I’m sure it’s in the UK too- ever noticed how “parking asdsistance” featured in cars always have a woman behind the wheel, while for the rest of the ad it’s a man driving?

  3. Unfortunately the recent launch of the Galaxy S4 was embarrasingly sexist. I also like Samsung products, but this gives me second thoughts.

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