Uninspired Deodorant for “Kidz”
I came across this deodorant while shopping at Wegmans. In an isle filled with deodorant, these ones immediately caught my eye, but for all the wrong reasons. I find this packaging design to be uninspired, cliché, and unnecessarily gendered. Before I list all of the reasons why I do not like this design, I’ll first highlight the aspects of this design that (kind of) make sense.
As these deodorants were the first I noticed in a shelf of probably over 100 others, I’ll admit that the design stands out. Another aspect of this design that I’m not angry about is how obviously for-children this product is which is evident through the more childish/casual font, bright colors, and their spelling of ‘kids’ with a Z rather than an S.
Okay now that the positives are out of the way, I will now highlight every reason as to why I do not like this design.
The first thing I noticed was the color choice, blue for boys and pink for girls. Without getting into the implications of gendering, I will just say that this, for lack of a better word, sexist design is stereotypical, boring, and beyond obvious. Notice how there is no mention of scent anywhere on the package, just “Pink Girls Deodorant” and “Blue Boys Deodorant”. You may claim the color pink as your favorite scent but there is no way to know how this deodorant smells based on the description “pink”. Upon further research (visiting the company’s website), I found that they actually carry four types of deodorant: “Boys”, “Girls Pink”, “Girls Purple”, and “Unscented”. The only way I could find the actual scents were through online customer reviews, which is a lot of work that I’m willing to bet grocery store shoppers will not take the time to do. They could easily just offer three scents and an unscented option rather than separating their products into ‘boys’ and ‘girls’. If they really want to use color as an indicator of what type of deodorant this is, I would suggest using the color green as apparently this is a natural deodorant. While the packaging does state “No Aluminum, No Parabens, No Alcohol”, most would not connect that description to the fact that this is a natural deodorant. I only fully realized that this product is natural after visiting their website.
The next thing I noticed was the fact that the design resembles the Union Jack. After researching, I’m pretty sure this company started in the UK but I could not find any information about their origins, even on their website. You would think that this would be important information to them as their packaging design is just the Union Jack in pink and blue but they do not talk about this anywhere. This design choice just feels unneeded and confusing as it does not express or contribute anything important to the customer’s understanding of the product.
I previously expressed that I found no issue with the childish elements of the design like the font and spelling as it clearly represents who their product is for, however, I highly doubt that kids are the ones shopping for their own deodorant. The packaging design could stand to have more mature elements as parents are the ones who will be looking, analyzing, and ultimately buying this product. The only things expressed through the current packaging design are that the product is for children, is gendered, and is possibly from the UK. If the values/mission of this company were to be summed up in two words, they would be “children” and “natural”. In my opinion, their packaging design only relays half of what they represent.
I completely agree with your statements, the term “Blue for boys” “pink for girls” is almost laughable. The deodorant seems to also not state any scent or product information besides its gender. Their use of gendering seems unnecessary and is also such a waste of space on these small bottles. Having cool designs that a variety of children (regardless of gender) would gravitate towards, could be a good way to influence younger generations to start using deodorant and have better hygiene at their age and in the future. But although this deodorant is aimed at kids, I doubt many kids would reach for it or many parents would buy it when there are other, cheaper, deodorants from brands they recognize, with more clear labels of their scents and purpose. Besides its name, there is nothing indicating it is any different than any other deodorant. I would surely recommend a different product if a younger sibling asked about this product and I think their lack of branding is a real detriment to the product itself.
I think that one way they could save this product is grouping the deodorants in color categories by scent and possibly using the “life water idea” of having each bottle come with a different youthful design to go on it that makes it clear that they are in groups based on scent but with designs that are also clearly gender neutral and fun. For example a lavender scent that uses purple as an indicator and uses a variety of designs that are masculine, feminine, and/or gender neutral, so all kids can feel comfortable buying whatever scent they want. Making their products gender neutral and giving the option of several (clearly labeled) scents is going to open up their market and increase your sales because any kid can choose their favorite from a variety of scents and isn’t tied down to just one that they may not like.
I think one thing that should also be a part of the advertising is how it is best suited for kids and for people who have not used deodorant before. That it isn’t too strong and it works well with sensitive skin. As you stated this is a natural deodorant and although it does say “No Aluminum, No Parabens, No Alcohol ” it seems like a waste of space for what they were probably trying to get across in that it’s natural. I think that they should have a simpler statement of “natural” on the front and then go into detail of what they have written now on the back of the bottle.
I will say that I do like the small size of these bottles as they will probably only be used sparingly and from what I have read is more so intended as a transitional product for preteens before they use the hygiene products of their “adulthood”. The small bottles are also best suited to be taken places and be discreet which is also good for kids who may be embarrassed at first. Also like you stated previously, I do enjoy the spelling of the brand and the font used as it is a clear indicator to parents that it is meant for kids and won’t scare them off of it being something too strong or possibly harmful for their kids.