BlogHer and Crystal Light Water Way Challenge
When my mom called me late Friday evening, she asked if we wanted to come over to "do something" for Father's Day. "Oh, of course!" was my reply, but then I told her how our eldest son had a soccer game at 12:30 so we'd have to leave before then.
Oh no, I'd want you over late - for things like burgers!
Mother's Day we get a brunch, or tea. But Father's Day we get to bring out the meat and beer. Not Fair.
And so I began to think about how a pitcher of iced tea is perfectly fine for a book club or ladies luncheon, but somehow not "manly" enough for the fathers. Granted, there are tea drinkers out there who happen to be male, but the stereotype is that men drink coffee while women drink tea. The women (allegedly) want fru-fru brunch, but the men want spice and substance.
What does this have to do with powdered beverages such as Crystal Light?
Well, Crystal Light is most certainly marketed to women. I understand that. I remember the beautiful ladies of the eighties showing how a flavored drink could avoid damage to one's figure, quite the opposite of many other refreshments of the time.
The interesting thing, though, is that now there are powdered drinks out there that are marketed to men as well. And then there are some that are rather gender-neutral. Look in your supermarket and you'll find products that are essentially alike, but in vastly different boxes.
My husband drinks one of those "manly" powdered drinks, and yet his favorite flavor is strawberry-kiwi, which is quite like the wild strawberry Crystal Light that I tried today (and will discuss tomorrow.) Funny how similar products both with "fruity" tastes, can be marketed so differently! As a result, I've never had some of "his" and he's never had any of "mine."
It is like razors - essentially the same product, but some are black (or gray with orange stripes) while others are pink (or aqua or purple.) Or maybe it isn't the same product: I know equal parts women who raid their boyfriends' bathrooms and men who raid their girlfriends' bathrooms because they prefer the other razor.
This doesn't have some huge impact on the Water Way Challenge - just some brainstorming that I happened to do as I looked over the Crystal Light in "my" section of the cabinet and the other powdered drink in Husband's section.
As for how the challenge is working for me: I had two diet sodas (can't seem to get fewer than that, but wait for my Crystal Light + carbonation challenge soon) several glasses of lemonade, several glasses of Crystal Light, and then some iced water at the Father's Day event. (Interestingly, the main beverage there was lemonade - plus the beer and wine - and that seemed manly enough in the particular context.) I've definitely cut down on my soda intake and have enjoyed having more variety in my beverages. It is hard to believe that my two-week challenge is already half over!
Drop by tomorrow to see what I thought of wild strawberry.
In the meantime, are there other examples of essentially the same product being marketed to women and men differently? Are you affected by that marketing or do you purchase whatever you think works best?
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* My introductory post to the Water Way Challenge - which links all the posts I've done while doing the Challenge, and includes my Challenge Widget to show how much water I've been drinking.
* Crystal Light Water Way Challenge official site
* Blogher's Water Way Challenge Group
* Crystal Light official site
