Outdoor Advertising

I recently received a catalog from my neighborhood REI (good outdoor store, if you're not familiar), and I laughed a little at the differing male and female ads for the same product: Vibram Fivefinger shoes.

First, I noticed that the women's advertisement had multiple images of the same shoe, in different colors.

Secondly, the reasons that the shoes are "better than barefoot!" for women start with "strengthen foot and leg muscles" while this same bullet is found at the bottom of the men's list and with the word strengthen changed to build. The men's list starts with "feel the earth as you work out" which vaguely appears at the bottom of the women's list.

Additionally, the activities you can enjoy while wearing your Vibram Fivefingers vary depending on your gender. While women's shoes cater more to yoga, running, and stand-up paddleboarding, the men's shoes provide great support for running, hiking, bouldering, kayaking, and (last but not least) yoga.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this- it's good marketing! I found the women's ad more appealing. I just thought it was humorous that ads for the same pair of shoes can vary so differently when they're only 5 pages apart from each other!

What do you think?

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The Technobabe Times is dedicated to the empowerment of women in all aspects of technology.

Welcome to the next frontier of Technobabe Times (TBT)--blogspace. This blog is to serve as an dynamic community dedicated to the empowerment of women. Multiple writers will be sharing this lovely pink space. TBT has always been a reflection of the women and men who called themselves part of TBT. Life's circumstances have scattered Technobabes far and wide across the globe; however, many of us alum have missed the creative outlet and fellowship that TBT offered. These discussions led to the creation of this blog. Its rather ironic that we waited this long to create a constant web presence. Well we're here now and look forward to the future of TBT as it grows into its next medium.

A short history of Technobabe. It was started in 1998 on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan by Davina Pallone as a reaction to the very male atmosphere of the college. More about the beginnings of TBT can be read at the archive for the print edition. It went dormant till it was revived in 2001 by Anna Swartz where it has flourished since then. TBT has not only been MTU's feminist press, but has served as a community group. TBT has produced the Vagina Monologues several times which raised funds for local women's shelters.

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