Both Cole S. and Toban B. found this Nestle’s candy bar (Cole saw it at World Market):

The Yorkie website was down (the error message said for routine maintenance) when I tried it, but Toban managed to snag some quotes from it earlier that indicate how the bar is being marketed to men. The bar is described as “a big, solid, chunky eat, uniquely for men,” and the site goes on:

Yorkie is positioning itself as a chocolate bar for men who need a satisfying hunger buster. With five solid chunks of chocolate, it’s a man sized eat… [Earlier] advertising reflected this with macho imagery – lorry drivers who take it one chunk at a time…

Yorkie still holds these values today but was relaunched in 1994 as a hunger satisfying bar.

It’s similar to the way that Hungry Man frozen dinners are marketed: the association with working-class male appetites, which presumably require big, “solid” meals to satisfy them after their hard days of work. Clearly any candy bar this serious isn’t appropriate for women. Oh, excuse me…not a candy bar, a hunger-satisfying bar. Women eat chocolate for emotional reasons or to bask in the luxury of the taste; men eat chocolate just to fill their stomachs. Notice that the advertising doesn’t focus on the types of things we generally see in Dove or Hershey’s ads for chocolate bars: the chocolate being rich, smooth, delicious, etc., which imply that eating chocolate is an indulgence rather than just a practical way to satisfy your hunger.

Also, in our comments Trevor pointed us to a conversation about a pink version of the Yorkie. I am completely perplexed. Along the top it says “VERY LIMITED EDITION.” Along the bottom is says “5 HUNKY CHUNKS OF MILK CHOCOLATE.” Along the top, diagnolly, it reads: “GET YOUR LIPS AROUND THIS!”

So is it a girl version? I can’t tell. The female figure is still crossed-out with the “no” symbol. I don’t know what pink thing she is holding. I am perplexed.

Also note, Men’s Pocky (thanks Lis Riba):

Candy, like other high-sugar products, are often gendered female. Perhaps that’s why this candy marketing is making such a big point of making candy manly? Notice that the Men’s Pocky is “bitter,” i.e., not too sweet. That seems to be happening a lot these days, as in the new Snickers and Twix marketing, see here, here, here, and here.

NEW! Keely W. sent in a commercial for Mars’ new candy bar aimed at women, Fling (found here). The message: You shouldn’t (sexually) indulge a lot, but you can (sexually) indulge just a little… with the help of Mars Co., of course.



