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Gender Rolls

3/25/2017

22 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

English speakers studying languages like Spanish and French sometimes struggle to learn whether a noun is masculine or feminine.  For instance, in Spanish the word for paper (el papel) is masculine, while the word for towels (las toallas) is feminine.  Combining these words requires even more careful gender consideration: paper towels = las toallas de papel (feminine).  Interestingly, paper towel brand Brawny has produced a different set of gender questions by swapping out the image on its iconic packaging.
 
One of the best known household brands, Brawny is often remembered for the eye-catching picture plastered on the wrapper of its paper towels.  The image, which has gone through various iterations over the years, has been of the head and/or chest of a man who looks burly, powerful, strapping . . . in other words, “brawny.”
 
Unlike other spokes characters who have kept a pretty consistent appearance over the years (e.g., the Jolly Green Giant, Captain Crunch), the Brawny man’s look has changed significantly at times.  One of the more recent images consists of just a cross-section of a man, from lips to chest, sporting about seven days’ growth of beard.  An earlier image was more clean-shaven and complete:  One could see all of the Brawny man from waste up, including his barrel chest and log-sized arms.

Most often the Brawny man has been a brown-haired Caucasian.  At one point, though, he was a mustache-wearing blond in a blue top.  Almost always, however, he has worn the same thing, a rugged-looking red plaid shirt, which probably has been the most memorable part of the paper towel packaging.  Of course, the reason for this visual and verbal branding (the man and the Brawny name) has been to convey that these paper towels are stronger and tougher than those of competitors.  In fact, Brawny uses the tagline “The Strength to Take On Tough Messes.”
 
The preceding description is important in order to appreciate Brawny’s decision to replace its male brand icon with a female counterpart.  The change isn’t permanent, but for the month of March, in honor of Women’s History Month, a “Brawny woman” graces the front of all its paper towel packages.
 
The Brawny woman looks similar to the man in terms of her brown hair and fair skin.  Of course, she wears a red plaid shirt.  Her physique is more slender than stout; however, she strikes powerful poses that show her with either arms crossed over her chest or hands placed boldly on her hips.  We can’t see all of her, but what’s visible reinforces Brawny’s special tagline “Strength Has No Gender.”
 
What should we make of Brawny’s bid to honor women with a cameo on its paper towel packages?  At first blush, it’s hard not to view the effort as noble.  Given the injustices that many women have suffered and the biases they continue to endure, it’s especially nice to see a company such as Georgia Pacific, parent of the Brawny brand, pay homage to both women’s inner and outer strength.
 
“Yes, but Brawny isn’t just being benevolent,” some may argue.  “The company is trying to profit from Women’s History Month.”  Undoubtedly, there are brains behind the brawn, and the company is looking out for its bottom-line, as any responsible organization should.  After all, if Brawny somehow went belly-up, there would be many unhappy customers, dejected suppliers, and desperate employees—both women and men.
 
But, is Brawny’s temporary packaging really a profit-making proposition?  It’s hard to know for sure, but one must first consider that the company is incurring extra costs in making the short-term switch, e.g., design and printing.  Then, one must wonder whether the special packaging produces incremental sales.
 
From my experience, grocery shoppers are notoriously price sensitive, usually looking for the best deal, especially for things like paper products.  However, people do develop brand loyalties for certain things, which makes them somewhat less price sensitive, but also less likely to switch brands, e.g., a Bounty user probably won’t buy Brawny just because of some special packaging.
 
There’s also the question of whether shoppers will even notice the novel wrapper.  Supermarket shelves are overflowing with options, making it hard enough to find what one is looking for, let alone attend to something new.  In addition, given that the male and female Brawny photos are similarly cropped and both contain red plaid, people who glance may not even realize it’s a different package.
 
So, any significant, direct return-on-investment for Brawny is doubtful, but that’s still not the end of the analysis.  There’s another compelling question that approaches gender identity from a different angle:  What if Georgia Pacific were introducing paper towels now, for the first time?  Would it be appropriate to put a woman’s picture on the package?
 
A prudent answer is probably “no,” not because of anything to do with perceived strength but because paper towels are often used for cleaning, and women are typically the ones typecast as cleaners.  So, the use of a female spokes character for a cleaning product could be seen as perpetuating a constricting gender stereotype.
 
That said, I suspect that virtually no one would currently accuse Brawny of promoting such a stereotype, especially given the context of Women’s History Month.  However, as suggested above, I also doubt that Brawny’s attempt at gender equity will make a measurable marketing impact for the brand.  Georgia Pacific can be commended for its goodwill, but in the end, people don’t really care if paper towel promotion is masculine or feminine; it’s just “Simple-Minded Marketing.”



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22 Comments
Danytza Avila
3/25/2017 01:15:09 pm

Most cleaning products do have a woman as the character representing the product. It is very interesting to know that Brawny's character was always a very "masculine" man. This must of attracted a lot of attention when they first started. The fact that they have proven their company is not stereotypical gives them permission to place a women as their cover for a whole month without getting any bad comments. I do agree that people may not really be moved to buying this brand just because of the women character being displaced. But today in our society we see consumers deciding to buy things because of what a company stands. For example, Ivanka Trump's clothing line was very hurt because of what her political standpoint. Now I understand that these are two different areas of commerce. But essentially people who stand for certain beliefs will be influenced to buy certain products because of their standpoint. In this case probably feminists and socialists. Today the price does influence greatly but for the present consumers it is not only about the product but about what they are promoting when buying the product.

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Chuck Farrell
6/3/2018 03:48:13 pm

I will never buy your product again political correctness with a masculine woman ridiculous

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Kyle H.
3/26/2017 05:24:54 pm

In an age where social justice is perceived to be very important, Brawny may have made the right decision in temporarily changing their logo. The vocal minority of social justice warriors can help or hurt certain companies, depending on the industry. If a company can be seen as trying to promote social justice, this can help or hurt the company. Because Brawny is a cleaning product the act of changing its logo probably won't have a huge impact on the company, as was mentioned in the article. Georgia Pacific may be trying to change how the public views them by becoming more "Progressive" or simply just making a statement for equality.

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Ulisses Banuelos
3/26/2017 07:48:06 pm

I find it a bit surprising that Brawny decided to put a woman on the front of there logo. We are continuously seeing this uproar from people attacking companies because of "stereotyping" or companies not being socially aware or not being "politically correct." Many companies are feeling the pressure from people on always being "politically correct." If its Target allowing people who identify with the opposite sex enter the bathroom of their choice, or if its Disney showing two boys kissing in their kids shows. We see this trend of being "politically correct" very often with companies. The question that I have is, why now? Why wasn't Brawny and other companies been pushing for being "politically correct" by empowering woman all these years? Its frustrating to me to see these companies hoping on the bandwagon and having to push some agenda by enforcing an ideology on the consumers instead of just marketing the product as the product use. It seems that every where you look in marketing, companies are taking a political stance. Whats surprises me about having the woman in front of the Brawny logo is that if Brawny decided to change their logo permanently to a woman, people with be quick to say, "This is sexist." Because of the thought of woman being the ones who clean most often is looked as stereotypical. Even though the message behind was relatively good, I do not like the double standards. I do no agree on how Brawny decided, all of a sudden, to hop on the bandwagon of being "politically correct" by saying "Strength has no gender."

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Allyson C.
3/27/2017 01:30:12 am

I enjoyed the switch to a strong woman on the packaging, especially in light of Women's History Month. I thought they did a great job of capitalizing on the occasion. I think it becomes especially impacting considering they have always had a man on the packaging, now by portraying a woman where one would expect to see a man, shows that they are supporting the strength of women. I do not think that it will gain them as much business as they were possibly thinking, however, the commercials and other advertisements for this product will stick with consumers later on. I think Brawny set themselves on a foundation for supporting women, that may or may not earn them a larger profit now, but will possibly help them in the future. Definitely, if they had just been starting out and simply put a woman as the face of the product, it would have left a bad taste with consumers. However, their switch from a strong man to a strong woman, supports a stronger view of equality.

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Sophie S.
3/27/2017 01:43:56 am

I think it is very interesting that Brawny chose to change the image on the front of their packaging for Women's History month. I personally am one of the people who would perceive this effort as noble. I think that the tagline "strength has no gender" is profoundly true and is hard to be offended by from any point on the political spectrum. The post brings up an interesting point about how if they were to just start out with a woman on their packaging that would be inappropriate because they would be seen as perpetuating the stereotype of women being the care takers of the home and nothing more. However, since Brawny is an established brand and they are known for advertising strength, using a woman to depict that strength is empowering. I do not have an issue with it being a for-profit endeavor, there are many other things they could have done that would not be empowering or honoring to any group of people that would have advanced their sales. They chose this method which says something about their values as a brand.

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Colton Worthington
3/27/2017 01:37:17 pm

I really liked the context in showing the simple minded thought process of Brawny's short term packaging change. It really makes sense to think that a change so small like that won't really make a difference in their sales. Me as a shopper probably wouldn't even recognize the change but on the other hand I'm not really a picky shopper nor do I take bias in brands when it comes to things like paper towels or toilet paper. I do get the idea of the change though, trying to reach out to those who are prideful in women's rights and the honor of their upward mobility in society. I think in a sense this may not help them in better sales in the month of march but it may gain buyers long term.

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Luke Kenton link
3/27/2017 02:36:30 pm

I think Brawny is trying to be politically correct by using a women to represent the month of March on their paper towel cover. Doing so, they hope to please the many women who do recognize this and not only get motivated to purchase the paper towels but are motivated to clean. The reason they did this is also because women are the ones buying the paper towels not men. Because of this, I think you are right in saying, that the use men most of the time so there is no stereotype against women. For the month of March, Brawny wants to make an effort to get more exclusive customers through this marketing technique.

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Ken Choi
3/27/2017 03:04:13 pm

I liked this blog a lot. I think that Brawny was not in any way trying anything that was morally bad. One could certainly attempt to argue their point, but at most I would say that they were slightly taking advantage of the situation in order to maybe make their brand look better, but given that shoppers are just trying to look for the best price I do not think that it is a trespass against anyone.

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Sam Karabashian
3/27/2017 03:06:49 pm

I really liked the concept that Brawny had behind its simple marketing strategy. They simply used a politically vogue situation to enhance the relationship between their product and the customer. I think this is a good thing not just because they are getting something out of it for profit potentially, but because they are making a statement about themselves as a company and what they stand for. That is something I respect.

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danielle
3/27/2017 03:41:51 pm

I really enjoyed this blog and found that Brawny had a successful attempt in this marketing strategy. They took advantage of the political stance and used it to emphasize the relationships of the customer and product. I think that their goal was not to upset anyone or go against any morals, rather it was purely innocent. I think that rather Brawny tries to gain more exclusive and loyal customers.

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Andre Rasilim
3/27/2017 06:38:21 pm

I would argue that Brawny certainly made the right decision here by choosing to ride this wave and have a woman as the icon on their product instead of a man for women history march. Not only did they recognize the month but by doing this, they can show their customers and the world just how much they appreciate and respect women. This displays that the company does not stereotype women or think less of them and considers them to be equal which is a great opportunity as they will appeal to a much larger demographic as well and will undoubtedly receive some strong market traction

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Justin Adams
3/27/2017 10:18:51 pm

I think it was smart to have a woman on the brand for women's history month, but I agree with one of the other commentators that their usual branding is solid. With gender issues today it is nice to have the brand be centered around a male dealing with cleaning. It is unlikely changing the brand logo will make more sales for them. I also like that they wanted to show women strong like men. Ultimately it seems wise for Brawny to see what their customers like.

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Elizabeth S. link
3/27/2017 10:30:00 pm

We have a tendency to associate different items with a masculine or feminine gender. It’s interesting to me that some spokes characters change, while others stay the same. I would agree that Brawny uses a male as their visual to associate their product as being tough and durable. When I first read that Brawny is using a female during Women’s History Month, I thought their efforts are only to promote women. I wonder if Brawny is just trying to profit from this marketing move. When questioning if the use of a female character could be viewed as keeping the gender stereotype, I think that could be an option, but not in the case. The reason is because Brawny is known for using their character to promote a tough image of their product; in context, I wouldn’t assume that Brawny is encouraging gender stereotype.

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Jasmine R.
3/27/2017 11:50:24 pm

I think this article is correct in saying that this is not something to look down on Brawney on. At the very least it is the company trying to make more money in this month by advertising in a special way to recognize Women's History Month. Although this may seem like a shallow thing, it is also the main objective of the company. Without Brawney looking out for themselves they may go under and, as mentioned in the article, cause problems for many people, women and men both. I do think whoever that it is a good move for Brawney to advertise their product using a man rather than a home. It associates their products as being masculine and durable. It also keep from making some unintentional statement about women stereotypes. The fact that this is a temporary marketing move keeps it from being to much of a bold statement. So although it may not be extremely beneficial for the company, I do not believe that it will harm them in any way.

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Christine D.
3/28/2017 12:26:58 am

You make solid points and great observations with the intentions of Brawny. I wouldn't have looked at it from your perspective in regards to whether or not they are doing this impermanent campaign for sake of profit or good-will. As a business minded individual, I don't see the problem with their intentions leaning on the side of profit because they are a business with their main objective to stay a float and to increase in revenue. However, I do see where you are coming from and it's important to self-reflect and ask yourself is this company worth investing in and is it intelligent to target market the way they are doing. I'd say it's a risky move but I also think it's brilliant.

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Christian Y.
3/28/2017 12:42:25 am

I like what you're trying to do with these blogs, the concept is dope. However, I actually disagree with your analysis, I don't think Brawny's move to placing a women at the centerfold of they're marketing strategy is wholly ineffective. While I don't think it would necessarily boost sales, I do think they were trying to make a stand on a particular issue and boost the overall perception of their company. Which is a good marketing strategy on its own.

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Jake Battaglia
3/28/2017 12:56:12 am

For Brawny, I believe that changing their image briefly can do them some good. Me personally, i would most not likely notice that the image has changed unless someone told me. For i simple product like paper towels i am not very picky when choosing. This strategy by Brawny i do not feel will boost sales, but will show its customers that they stand up for certain issues in society such as woman's rights which is a productive strategy itself.

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Nathan B.
3/28/2017 01:24:08 am

This is an interesting tactic by Brawny. I don't believe that Brawny's main reasoning behind the switch to the Brawny woman was purely profit. I believe that they genuinely wanted to honor women during this month and it is a nice gesture. However, I am sure they knew this could boost sales for them and that makes this tactic a win win for both the consumer and seller. I think it could be cool to see the Brawny woman on the packaging more frequently than just this month as it is a cool gesture and definitely helps boost their brand image.

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Matt
3/28/2017 02:09:39 am

When my wife and I shop for paper towel, we think bounty, but when I shop on my own I think Brawny. (but buy Bounty, got to keep the wife happy) Maybe I’m crazy, but the results aren’t in and there is something about a Brawny man that my skinny stature wants to relate too. The switch to the Brawny woman won’t motivate us to switch, but it does plant a seed about their respect for women. Whether they profit or increase sales in the short-term or not, it could be the move that attains brand loyalty from on the fence consumers. It becomes a statement of power and support for women.

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Rita Gomez
3/28/2017 02:31:45 am

As I was walking down the paper towel aisle I noticed this change very quickly. I did not think that the company did this to make a profit or because it was Women's Month. I think they did this because they are showing their customers that they share the same beliefs as they do. Today it can be noted how people have changed what they buy becase they want to know what a company stands for. If a consumer disagrees with a companies beliefs they will not buy their products. This trend is only growing especially in the United States were beliefs is starting to become a very sensitive issue. Placing a man such as the one in Brawny has greater significance today. I think that Brawny may actually gain customers because of the statement they are trying to portray to consumers. Using March as a time to show consumers their beliefs is quite clever because if they had done it in any other month I would think they made that decision only for profit or fear of sending a negative message.

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Mary Karnazes
4/7/2017 12:45:48 pm

I really enjoyed this blog post. I think what Brawny did as far as making a short term change in their packaging was very smart. To be honest, I wouldn't have noticed a difference in packaging if I were to purchase it. I don't think such a small change would make that big of a difference in their sales for that month, but it could potentially help them gain more customers in the future.

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