We randomly came across their account again today and were dismayed to find that they are still using sexism to promote their products.
Since 1968, Hot Wheels® has created thrilling vehicle experiences for boys of all ages. Check out our Facebook page for more information on Team Hot Wheels.Boys of all ages. Really? So girls of all ages haven't had "thrilling vehicle experiences" with Hot Wheels?
Let's get this straight. We complained about the phrase "toys for boys" and they replaced it with "vehicle experiences for boys"? Sorry Hot Wheels, you missed the point!
Their Facebook page takes it a step further:
Delivering thrilling vehicle experiences for boys and guys of all ages
Boys and guys?
Hot Wheels is completely ignoring all of the women who grew up playing with Hot Wheels and similar toys. And they're alienating all of the little girls today who play with Hot Wheels and other cars.
And they're still doing this, even though we all complained to them a year ago about their sexism. Hot Wheels is basically telling us that they don't care about our complaints and they don't care about girls. But you can be sure they care about our money. We're sick of gendered-marketing of toys because it's sexist, its' inaccurate, and honestly, it's just bad business sense. So we think you should tell Hot Wheels that GIRLS of all ages play with cars too!
Tweet to them on Twitter (@Hot_Wheels) or write on their Facebook wall (Facebook.com/HotWheels) or contact Mattel directly. Remind them that GIRLS LIKE CARS TOO!
6 comments:
Man, I remember playing the Hotwheels Playstation game as a kid and it was my -favourite- game. Dismayed that I guess it wasn't as fun to me as it was to dudes? Lame, Hotwheels, lame.
BUT YOU GUYS, DON'T YOU REALIZE HOW DIFFICULT IT WOULD BE TO CHANGE THE WORD "BOYS" TO THE WORD "KIDS" OR "CHILDREN"? I MEAN IT WOULD TAKE ALL OF 5 SECONDS.
Epiphora, you are so right. When will us ladies learn to stop being so demanding? Maybe we should try just asking nicely if they'll make a special pink car that girls are allowed to play with.
I love how one of their tweets says, "Gentlemen, get ready to feast your eyes on this car", or something. It's as if they're trying to tell us that their toys are for males only. What a bunch of chauvinistic douche bags. I really hope people start boycotting them for this, seeing as they haven't listened to anyone at all.
You know, it's not that I disagree with this post but...
Once, just ONCE I would like to see a bunch of feminist-minded people up in arms saying, e.g., to Mattel "Sexist pigs, why aren't you taking the fact that BOYS play with Barbies into account?"
Erisiana, you're right. Mattel is sexist on both ends and we do care about that as well. Although we have seen feminist-minded people up in arms about that quite often.
But the Barbie issue is a huge one that would take a lot to rectify. While it would be quite easy for the social media team behind Hot Wheels to just change their tag line from "boys" to "kids". However, over a year later, they still refuse to do even that.
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