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feminism . fangirlism . gaming
Dell tries selling netbooks with sexism? Win.
Written on May 14, 09 9:25 pm | Musings/Thoughts Neoseeker Related PC Hardware 18 comments
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| tags: dell hardware neoseeker feminism
Wow, so Sean sent me an article this morning about Dell's latest trip to realm of political incorrectness. After reading it, I decided that the manufacturer did indeed deserve the cake of epic fail.
I have to say, I got a laugh out of it, and I know some of my co-workers enjoyed my take on the subject, which you can find on our front page. Seems Dell has been trying to reach the female consumer demographic and decided that the best way to go about this is by renaming themselves "Della," just for the ladies. Della even has its own website, away from the MANLY products on Dell's MANLY-MAN main site.
The entire site in general is kind of insulting to my intelligence, but I'm willing to let it slide. It's what they had on their Dell Tech Tips page that really irked me.
quoteWhat. The. Shit. Really? I mean, seriously? Screw you up the ass too, Dell. I may have stood up for them in the past for your reliable warranty service, solid products, and fair prices, but they really need to fire the moron who came up with that shit.3. Eat better: Find recipes online, store and organize them, and watch cooking videos.
4. Get organized: ‘Remember the Milk’ is a free, tweakable online task manager that’s easy to use.
If you go to the Tech Tips page now, they've changed it to be more neutral overall, though I'm wondering why they even need a special suggestions page for Della. It still carries a mild condescending tone, though an Editor's Note a the top of the page states they've made some changes since the angry e-mails and letters flooded Dell HQ. It's definitely not the *bleep*ing apology they should be issuing.
Least they could do is make a Tech Tips page for MANLY Dell consumers, too... which must also be incredibly stereotypical. Turnabout is fair play, bitches. Article on Neoseeker front page is here, in case you're interested in more details and original links. Boy, am I *bleep*ing glad I bought my netbook from Asus.
Note: The original blog post had a lot more swearing, but the *bleep* tags really killed the flavor.
Update: Just received my E3 2009 Media All Access badge in the mail. Appointments are looking full, kinda of worried but excited at the same time.
Comments
RabidChinaGirl
CA, USA 
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We have no idea what kind of surveying and research Dell has done before hand to get a feel as to what demographics their Female customers fall into in terms of hobbies and recreational activities. The 'Remember the Milk' application is far from being targeted towards any gender in particular, their site is as vanilla as possible and from what I can tell they aren't even owned by Dell. Unfortunately, because of all the "complaining" from over enthusiastic....consumers, the people over at Remember the Milk are being unfairly stereotyped.
Like Oz, I don't think targeting a certain demographic is being politically incorrect what so ever. I looked at the US Dell site and it's also not even remotely close to being gender specific. In fact, you could go the other way and point out the fact that their banner for grads only contains Females; the only image with people depicted on the frontpage. So, does that mean there are no Male grads out there? Dell's front page is sexist and so feminine.
http://www.oprah.com/magazine/omagazine
I see Cooking, Fashion, and look zomg a seperate section for MENS health?! ohnoes Oprah is sexist like Dell, what a bastard! ò_ó
Uhm, and of course you are entitled to your opinions. But I don't think Oprah is a good comparison because it's always been geared toward a certain female demographic. If you would like tips on fashion, make-up, self-help, then yeah, her magazine is a good source. But the idea that a neutral product like Dell needing a more female-friendly line is troubling. While the Della line itself is not the issue here, their original marketing ploy was just not well thought out, and for many of us, the Tech Tips carried a condescending tone we didn't appreciate.
For example, having a conversation with a hardware rep in person when he jokes that you would like their line of laptops because they come in red and pink is actually rather uncomfortable, despite the seemingly harmless nature of it. Why? Because he doesn't know me, but he assumes that he does based on the fact that I am female before any other consumer type, such as gamer or writer... despite the badge around my neck that read "Media."
That's funny as hell! I'm assuming the Dell man site will have tips for tuning their engines, garage organization ideas, and "how to get the last drop from that budweiser can while your old lady takes her sweet ass time getting you a new one." LMFAO LMFAO
"Remember the Milk" application? Give me a break!
Anyway, I think overall it was a very foolish decision by Dell. Regardless of what you think of the advertising campaign itself, this kind of thing is literally just asking for trouble, and their PR seemed to forget that when this was OK'd.
What I think is more silly is stirring up a feminist storm in a tea cup over a couple of pieces of stock photography depicting a bunch of happy women with colorful laptops. As Jamie also pointed out, I could just as easily man-rage at the "suggestion" that only females graduate -- but I don't, because it's freaking stock photography, and everyone knows a bunch of pretty women on a website will sell more product than a bunch of dongs.
"Hello, are there any females between the ages of 18 to 35 in the household?"
"Yes, I am"
"Could we please have a minutes of your time? We're conducting a survey on behalf of Dell. Dell is interested in increasing their marketshare among young women, blah blah blah."
...
"Would you be more inclined to consider a Dell computer if given the choice between a number of warm colors, stylized edges, and a software suite more slanted towards young women?""
"Sure, I guess"
BAM. POSITIVE RESPONSE TO A CAREFULLY CRAFTED QUESTION. Multiply the above by 2,000 out of 4,000 surveyed, and you have a marketing campaign! No sexism involved.
PS: Dell isn't forcing you to buy these laptops.
It's not some mystery that consulting companies poll a small group of people and extract generalized findings based off of loose answers to questions.
The move that failed was marking a brand to a minority of a gender and pandering it as a majority solution. It's why you have a marketing team to begin with and do product placement testing in live situations before launching a new brand.
Dell isn't forcing anyone to buy their laptops, they're just giving people a lot less reason to with bonehead moves short battery life and so on. Focus on the meat of the issue that they're trying to bury up already instead of their fumbling corrections later.
They could have had something decent with Della but they failed to execute on it with actual field testing before jumping into the fray. This isn't 1950's America with the idea of Susie Homemaker holding up the fort and just worrying about what she's going to make hubby for dinner.
Stereotypes exist to be broken.
Much friendlier!