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marketing

All this has happened before...

Unsurprisingly, Disney Says It’s Not Backing Down on That Merida Redesign

by Susana Polo | 2:41 pm, May 16th, 2013

The recently controversial redesign Disney’s done in order to induct Merida of Brave into the canon of their other princesses isn’t the first time Disney has done a sparklier, cleaner, trimmer version of their princesses. But it’s caused particular backlash in part because Merida represented a different kind of femininity than most of her other princess counterparts.

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Braaaaiiiinnnnns

Every Day Closer To The Walking Dead Premiere Means One Less Zombie Finger To Worry About

by Jill Pantozzi | 4:37 pm, February 7th, 2013

If you’re worried about zombie phalanges reaching out for your squishy flesh, worry no more! Thanks to an AMC advertisement for The Walking Dead in New York’s Grand Central Station Toronto’s Union Station, those trouble-makers’ days are numbered. What I want to know is, who guards the severed fingers? Because if I were a tourist, I’d totally be taking one of them home as a souvenir. Or, you know, if I just happened to find myself in Grand Central Union Station for any reason whatsoever.

(via Duck Duck Gray Duck)

Previously in The Walking Dead

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The Boob Tube

Your Next Verizon Cable Box May Be Able To Watch And Listen To You In Your Own Home

by Jill Pantozzi | 2:00 pm, December 6th, 2012

If you thought mannequins watching you while you shop was a creepy thought, what about your DVR watching you on the couch? This is the future Verizon has in store for targeted marketing. 

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Essay

Why Games With Female Protagonists Don’t Sell, and What It Says About The Industry

by Becky Chambers | 12:33 pm, November 23rd, 2012

So, here’s a question: why are female video game protagonists so rare? Their absence is palpable, and we talk often of how we want to see more of them, but the why of it is typically addressed with generalizations about target audiences and a lack of women in game development. Penny Arcade Report senior editor Ben Kuchera wanted better answers than that, so he did what any red-blooded gamer would do — he found some numbers to crunch.

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What Boys Think of Girls

Finally, A Computer Women Can Use! [Eyeroll]

by Jill Pantozzi | 2:00 pm, October 23rd, 2012

Everyday items for “ladies” almost always rub us the wrong way. I mean, Lady-Pens, really? But now one company has decided those pesky desktops and laptops we already own should probably be replaced with something more suitable for women-folk. May we present, the Fujitsu Floral Kiss? 

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It's A World of Laughter A World of Tears

Here, Let Disney Pull on Your Heart Strings With This Ad Defining “Princess”

by Susana Polo | 5:43 pm, October 3rd, 2012

Disney has been manipulating the emotions of girls and women for so long now that the word “princess” has become nearly synonymous with their product. And I agree with Peggy Orenstein’s points about it. And no, I’ve just got something in my eye.

(via Peggy Orenstein.)

A Series of Fallopian Tubes

Bic’s Line of Lady-Pens Get Hilariously Roasted in Amazon Reviews

by Alanna Bennett | 2:00 pm, August 27th, 2012

If there’s one thing I’ve always found the most inconvenient about being a woman, it’s the flabbergasting lack of pens marketed for my delicate lady-fingers. Luckily, the marketing geniuses over at Bic have come along to save the day, and Bic’s “For Her” pens are a smash hit. At least, if Amazon UK is to be believed, what with its pages upon pages of reviews on the product. And by “smash hit,” I mean “every lady with writing fingers saw right through their ploy and responded in kind.” Click through the jump to read some of the hilarious reviews of the pens.

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Audience Participation

Does Google Not Understand Women Or Just Geek Women?

by Jill Pantozzi | 12:30 pm, January 27th, 2012

Apparently, Google thinks we’re men. Their ads preferences page was recently brought to my attention. It breaks down your internet searches by categories and then infers your age and gender based on what you’ve looked at. And according to them, all of us here at The Mary Sue are 25-34 year old men. At first it seemed like perhaps “male” was just the default for those who didn’t have their google internet history turned on and as ridiculous as that would be, all Susana (results above), Jamie and myself all had our history set to on, which means these assumptions where made on our internet usage. It makes me consider what DC Comics Demon Knights writer Paul Cornell tweeted earlier, “Do you think that Google may not have considered the tastes of geek girls?”

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eye candy

The Brown M&M Is Finally Getting A Personality And It’s A Female!

by Jill Pantozzi | 11:50 am, January 17th, 2012

“There’s a sixth M&Ms character coming and she doesn’t accept just anyone,” reads the mysterious teaser on the M&M Facebook page. That’s right. There’s a new talking candy about to be revealed and she’s a she. 

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Little Girl Objects to Being Sold Pink Princesses

by Susana Polo | 6:04 pm, December 26th, 2011

A little critical thinker after our own hearts, even if she might need a tiny bit of coaching to get the message out. Speaking of messages, Skepchick has got a great addendum to the video, which talks about how if girls should be outraged that they’re being placed into a marketing box full of pink princesses, then boys and girls should be outraged that there isn’t nearly enough precedented acceptance for boys liking princesses as there is for girls not liking princesses.

Did that sentence make sense? You should probably just read their article.

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