Friday, August 24, 2007

Listen up NHL marketing departments!

Sherry from Scarlett Ice and HLOG fame has a great piece (with lots of good dialogue) about the new pink shirts that the Sens have put out for female fans. Sherry very eloquently hits the mark about why female hockey fans hate this shit (I am a little less eloquent). Her piece is a must read for any hockey fan, especially when you consider that females make up a big part of the game -- whether as a fan, blogger, player, or as the Mom who drives her kids to practice.

The thing is, you can't pigeon-hole the female fanbase and say you're catering to their needs when all you offer them in their sizes and cuts are jerseys that completely eliminate the point of offering team merchandise in the first place. What's the point of shelling out for a team's jersey when they're all the same colour?
There is a pretty healthy discussion going in the comments as well. The common thread? Not one of the hockey bloggers who commented would ever buy a pink, "Sens Girl" t-shirt. It would kind of be like wearing a Hooters outfit to your first day at Harvard.

I will definitely post more on this later (as its a source of unending annoyance for me), but for now Sherry speaks for a lot of us.

And note to the Caps: How about some female sizes in the jerseys? This doesnt quite do it for me.

10 comments:

DCSportsChick said...

I've been complaining about this for a year now...how time flies. You'd think that the lackluster pink jersey sales would have convinced them it was a bad idea, but no. I demand female-sized jerseys in team colors! Is that too much to ask?

Debcapsfan said...

At least something in between gargantu dude with huge beer bellies and kids sizes would be nice.
Maybe we should just buy the poducts from Sidknee's clothing line. *vomit*

You would have enjoyed my eve last night- I went to a sushi tasting and sitting with a bunch of people who had never met and there was about an hour of talk about Harry Potter. People seemed to be justing dying to talk about it, lol.

Isleschick said...

I'm really glad I got that ladies jersey (in orange/blue) they offered a few years ago. :)

cbbjr said...

Maybe I am in the minority, but I'm hoping that they start making pink jerseys for guys that can fit my 6 foot, 285 pound self. That size single XL won't cut it.

Margee said...

They have to start making girl-sized versions of the men's stuff. The stuff for guys is all cute. Why can't they just cut them a little to make them for the ladies, too. All the girls stuff is ribbed, form-fitting and/or pink. It sucks.

Bethany said...

I hate the girls stuff...I'm not a fan of pink or any of that crap. Sheeeeesh.

Jordi said...

I'll be honest here, I'm not too fussed at the marketing schemes. I think it's nice they offer cute things for 4 year old girls. But I guess adult ladies are overlooked a lot. However on the other hand, I don't think all of those are horrible.

Well maybe it's because I'm devising my own plan in fitting my own mens clothing :)

Abhinav said...

Holy crap, that pink caps jersey is horrific. Who the crap would buy that?

Leave it in Long Island, Ted. Leave it in Long Island.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jordi!

I think you are right that its not so bad for little girls, but its hard for a woman to pull that stuff off. They need to make girls sizes.

Marie said...

Jordi and Ally S, yes, the pink stuff is not bad for little girls (and they do offer pink shit in the youth section), but these shirts are in the Womens section!! Ahhhh!!

I'm with IslesChick, I'm glad I got a Kings ladies jersey a couple seasons ago. While it may not look "authentic" enough for some, it fits me perfectly and I don't have to worry about it dragging across the ground because it's too big or cutting off my circulation because it's too small.