I was out trying to price a new desk for my daughter (and of course that involves going to every new and used furniture store because I don't want to pay a dollar more than I have to) and I found this tag attached to some of the products at one of the stores...
Notice that it is a woman with a tool box next to the caption "this item requires assembly!" First, I think it is great that they don't go to the default male for such "manly" jobs as building furniture. And secondly, I think it is really great that they don't try to sell the woman as an object (yes, they often do that even with cartoons). She is still thin and whatnot, but she is not overly sexual- actually, at first I thought it was a man in the picture.
Although, I wonder if putting this type of tag on, where a woman is capable of building the furniture, serves to sell more products by making the build seem like a less daunting tasks to potential consumers... especially female ones..
Either way, I happen to like this picture, at least in comparison to images of women that are often present in advertising.
I think that this type of image on the tag is put there by the company strategically. It is known that in big purchase furniture items for the house it is the female/wife who usually makes the decision on what to purchase. I guess men would own chrome covered couches if we were left in the purchase decisions.
ReplyDeleteWould you pick out a chrome covered couch?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was married, my husband decided which furniture to buy (because he made the money)... maybe that is part of the reason why i can now write when i was married, or maybe that isn't as atypical as you might think.
Even if most women pick out furniture in a hetero couple, I think most people would assume that her male partner would assemble it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the tags are great!
I love the tag! And IMO it doesn't suggest the assembly will be easy - she looks professional :)
ReplyDelete