Re-marketing Promiscuity

Today's New York Times has an article about the "new marketing campaign" by those who sell the contraceptive sponge. The campaign has different reasons behind it, according to the article, among them, "... to create 'high impact' and to help the Today Sponge compete on store shelves, especially with condoms. 'We need to stand out on the contraceptive shelf space and compete for presence,'" To that end, the box for the contraceptives has "...a more modern look: instead of a pink flower and a conservative-looking typeface, the box has drawings of hip-looking women, playful typography".

Here's their webpage, as shown in today's article:




Making the product "stand out"? Using cartoon characters that are "hip-looking" as well as "playful typography"? I call it using marketing techniques that will make the product appealing to younger girls. Suppose you were the parent of a teen-aged girl, and you glanced over at the above webpage on your daughter's computer. Wouldn't you assume she's looking at a page from Nickelodeon or something?

Didn't our "PC" society banish Joe Camel here for his "cartoony" look and the fear that young people would see the advertising and be drawn to smoke almost against their will? So what are cartoonish "hip-looking" characters and "playful" colors and lettering saying to teenagers?