Products designed for women used to be VERY pink. Luckily brands are now waking up to the insight that women do not want to surround themselves with pink furniture, pink bicycles, pink cars, pink appliances and so on. Although one's four year old daughter might still insist on having virtually every item in her room (as well as her complete wardrobe) in pink, as she grows up her color-taste will change.

The color-converted marketeers and product developers may have read Don’t think pink from Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned. They see pink products as a result of working with old stereotypes about women: ‘Pink products just scratch the surface of women’s desires and often miss the mark altogether’. Typical pink female products can feel patronizing to women. Therefore, Johnson and Learned advice brands not to use a visible approach towards women, that is a product or campaign that makes clear it’s targeted to women only. The best way to resonate with women is to market transparently, in a way that works with women but does not single them out as a special species.

Leading by example here is Harley Davidson with their women and motorcycling special in black!

Nonetheless, there are still some Pink product horrors out there, like these at Trendwatching!

This post was previously published at marketingtowomen.eu