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Original poster

Boots and IWD

36 replies

TomHardyAndMe · 06/03/2021 15:42

Just flicking through the Boots Health & Beauty magazine that came through my door, whose cover states “we celebrate all the fierce females this IWD”. 5 people on the cover. You guessed it, trans woman slap bang in the centre of the front cover pic. And guess whose story comes first in the article?

FFS.

OP posts:
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Leafstamp · 08/03/2021 17:00

I've just sent my email to Boots, as part of my actions to mark IWD.

StillFemale · 07/03/2021 23:19

@NiceGerbil

One of the hair products does.

They have the woman who survived an acid attack
A sports woman
And a trans woman who has said that Street harassment is wonderful

Oh yes thats the trans person that did prison time for violence pre transition
NiceGerbil · 07/03/2021 23:01

One of the hair products does.

They have the woman who survived an acid attack
A sports woman
And a trans woman who has said that Street harassment is wonderful

ErrolTheDragon · 07/03/2021 14:55

@WendyTestaburger

Do boots use transwomen to advertise makeup, skincare, haircare etc? If not why not? That's one of the few areas where I'd have thought sex was a lot less important.
I don't know, but if not maybe they should. And men too, perhaps; in normal times I used to get clarins foundation from boots, served by a charming young man with nice subtle makeup.
WendyTestaburger · 07/03/2021 14:44

Do boots use transwomen to advertise makeup, skincare, haircare etc? If not why not? That's one of the few areas where I'd have thought sex was a lot less important.

merrymouse · 07/03/2021 10:30

www.adbrands.net/classics/classics-boots.htm

The ad for anti aging cream was from 2011 and the campaign was praised because the ad agency had an “instinctive understanding of what was going on inside the customer's head” 🤮

To be fair there isn’t really a feminist way to sell anti aging cream. However the IWD marketing will have been produced by somebody who is similarly unconcerned about what the copy says. They will probably have been briefed to produce something that appeals to consumers who think Boots is old fashioned.

Boots weren’t thinking about the MN FWR board in 2011 and they aren’t thinking about us now.

ErrolTheDragon · 07/03/2021 10:22

It’s international WOMEN’s day. Surely that’s a clue that it should be 100% women.........?

Yes, exactly. Yet it isn't, at a proportion which in a mixed sex list we might well find males:females.

Original poster
TomHardyAndMe · 07/03/2021 10:19

@ErrolTheDragon

20% is pretty similar to sort of proportion you might find for a female:male ratio on many mixed sex lists. At 30% the perception is that it's a lot of women.
It’s international WOMEN’s day. Surely that’s a clue that it should be 100% women.........?
OP posts:
merrymouse · 07/03/2021 10:15

Sorry, was posted to YouTube last year. Don’t know when ad made.

peak2021 · 07/03/2021 10:14

Boots I feel lost their way as a business a long time ago and I begin to wonder if they will eventually close down at least as a physical retailer at some point. Supermarkets and places such as Superdrug have taken much of the non-medicine business I expect, they have a probably expensive high street presence, and independent pharmacies seem to be doing OK.

This just adds to it.

merrymouse · 07/03/2021 10:12

Ladies, remember, your value decreases as you grow older. Nobody must ever think you are old! (This ad seems to be from last year?!)

ErrolTheDragon · 07/03/2021 10:08

20% is pretty similar to sort of proportion you might find for a female:male ratio on many mixed sex lists. At 30% the perception is that it's a lot of women.

Original poster
TomHardyAndMe · 07/03/2021 10:00

@Mockolate

should basically stick its collective fingers up at its customers and make the first women it features in its IWD coverage a trans woman.

Read the other thread though, which included a link to the article, and it clearly had a range of different women and experiences on there in the top 5.

It’s not a top 5, there are only 5. With the first to be covered (and therefore most likely to be read) that of a trans woman. 20% dedicated to trans is disproportionate. As is giving them an umbrella so as to take up more space than the women on the cover (plus they’re literally in the centre).
OP posts:
merrymouse · 07/03/2021 09:48

This is what drives 'values' campaigns

WorkingItOutAsIGo · 07/03/2021 09:48

Mandala exactly: we do have choices after all. Sadly most businesses have swallowed the kool aid on this but I can definitely spread my spending around much more. I regularly would spend £200 in Boots on stuff for the family and most of that I can buy elsewhere.

Theunamedcat · 07/03/2021 09:35

@serendipitea

If people need another reason to stop using Boots... they've moved their headquarters abroad and surprisingly pay less tax as a result.
Bye bye boots
serendipitea · 07/03/2021 09:31

If people need another reason to stop using Boots... they've moved their headquarters abroad and surprisingly pay less tax as a result.

MandalaYogaTapestry · 07/03/2021 09:24

@WorkingItOutAsIGo

Obviously trans women will be great customers for Boots - all those prescriptions, treatments, makeup etc. So it makes sense for Boots to market to them. But I may start to move my spending away as I refuse to be gaslit.
There won't be nearly enough of them to make up for the lost women's custom
WorkingItOutAsIGo · 07/03/2021 09:08

Obviously trans women will be great customers for Boots - all those prescriptions, treatments, makeup etc. So it makes sense for Boots to market to them. But I may start to move my spending away as I refuse to be gaslit.

WarOnWomen · 07/03/2021 09:02

That's right, Merrymouse. It's not that they care, it's a marketing opportunity. Some of us may be deeply put off by this but I think the vast majority either don't care or think it's a good thing. Even us discussing is free promotion and publicity. It's still a win for Boots.

(I wonder what Lloyds pharmacy is like).

StillFemale · 07/03/2021 08:56

Risking alienating customers is an interesting strategy for a business that has had profits reduced profits the last two years.

pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/boots-sees-profits-almost-halve-in-2019
2019 so can’t be blamed on Covid

www.walgreensbootsalliance.com/news-media/press-releases/2020/walgreens-boots-alliance-reports-fiscal-2020-third-quarter-results

But between choosing to focus on someone who isn’t a woman for IWD and their actions on morning after pill they don’t seem to respect women so I’ll shop elsewhere.

merrymouse · 07/03/2021 08:51

The companies producing this guff for IWD care as much about IWD as they do about Pride or Mothers Day or anything else.

It’s all just advertising. The only thing Boots want women to do is buy more of their stock.

Fromage · 07/03/2021 08:29

I stopped shopping at boots when they made the morning after pill more expensive than anywhere else and said they didn't want to encourage women using it irresponsibly, and went on to say some of its shareholders weren't happy with their selling it at all.

So boots ready didn't give a shit, and they want to keep their shareholders happy, and all they care about is money and if that means they will make a few more quid by bunging a transwoman on the cover of their little rag, it doesn't surprise me.

NoraEphronsNeck · 07/03/2021 08:17

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ErrolTheDragon · 07/03/2021 08:08

Well that's ok then.Hmm