Pink Product Ploy



"That's right -- pink guns. If you're a woman who's put off by the macho violence of guns, maybe you'd change your mind if they were pink."

- Cracked.com's "The 5 Most Pointlessly Women-Specific Products"

Simply put, coloring a product pink on the assumption that women are more likely to buy them.

These days, products made for women, especially girls, are increasingly pink. Whether it's toys, clothes, school supplies, phones, backpacks, etc., if it is meant for girls or women, it will likely be pink. This is common in Real Life, but probably started in works.

For stuff in works, this accounts mainly for The Merch, but can cover things In-Universe (especially when lampshading or discussing this).

Many people these days find this almost insulting, as if the color of the product is the sole turn off from women buying it, implying they can be that shallow. And it doesn't work in all cases. There are, however, some people who do buy pink products because they are pink (if you like pink, and pink is an option, then why not get the pink one), and some companies and organizations that have attempted to make the pink-female association an Insult Backfire. Be proud to be a woman—use the pink folding multitool with rhinestones! (Yes, that product existed.)

A Sub-Trope of Pink Means Feminine.

Compare Clarke's Law for Girls Toys.


 * Barbie not only has plenty of pink clothes, but Mattel also has a copyright on the shade "Barbie Pink". Although many products of this trope try to get as close to that color as they can.
 * The Disney Princess merchandise is usually pink on the packages, and the line logo is pink. It is possible to get Belle in a pink dress...
 * The toys for My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic include a lot more pink on the ponies (most infamously Princess Celestia, although a properly-colored white version of her toy was eventually revealed) than is actually in the show. Word of God is that this was done to appease the retail buyers, who explicitly stated that the color influenced their purchase quantities.
 * Used extensively by Italian children's footwear brand Lelli Kelly, and it shows with their website and advertising to the point of utter derision, ridicule and parody especially by boys in the UK who were subjected to this on children's television channels.
 * American Girl became this especially when Mattel took over the company. Unsurprisingly, some collectors particularly those who grew up with the Pleasant Company-era dolls and toys weren't pleased with the over-emphasis on pink and berry especially when the BeForever reboot of the historical characters was introduced in 2014.
 * Some versions of the PlayStation 2 were sold with pink systems and pink controllers.
 * The Nintendo DS Lite came in, not one, but two different pink colors during its run - coral pink and metallic rose - both of which were marketed to the increasingly targeted demographic of female gamers. Interestingly, the original coral pink version became a big hit with males, thanks in part to promotion from Penny Arcade.
 * The Japanese starter pack for the Pokémon Trading Card Game's Black and White expansion came in two flavors; a "for boys" version that was packaged in a dark-colored box, and a "for girls" version that was hot pink and covered in hearts. While this wasn't the only difference between the decks, it was certainly the most noticeable.
 * One of the Wii remote colors is pink.
 * There are pink Board Games that are otherwise the same as their standard counterparts. These are often board games that classically were gender-neutral for generations.
 * There was (and perhaps still is) a line of Supergirl clothing merchandise that was all in pink. There was also a comforter, marketed as a Supergirl comforter and identified as such by having a pink vs. of the Kryptonian logo on an otherwise pink comforter—no character design. Supergirl herself wears the same colors as Superman, red, blue and yellow.
 * Mace to women in pink spray cans rather than the black ones, though these are for breast cancer awareness. They've got the little ribbon on them and everything.
 * The B-movie from the 80s called "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death" with a young Bill Maher. There was a female lead who goes camping with EVERYTHING pink, such as hiking boots, pup tent, backpack, water canteens, etc, etc, etc.
 * She-Ra's steed Swift Wind presented a problem for male collectors. On the cartoon he was white but the original toy was pink. While the toyline was aimed at young girls the cartoon, a spin-off of He-Man, was not. (while most of the heroic characters were female the action and stories were on par with its predecessor) thus She-Ra had/still has a large male fanbase, but many collectors were hesitant to add a pink Winged Unicorn to their collection. When Swift Wind was added to the new Masters of the Universe Classics toyline Mattel let fans vote on what color he would be. White won by a landslide.
 * Scarlett's computer in Plus EV.
 * Most Hello Kitty products sold in the West have lots of pink, and so the color is tied to the line in America. In Japan, despite this trope still being in effect, Hello Kitty may come in all sorts of colors and designs.
 * Many sports teams have pink versions of their outfits, despite it not being a team color.
 * There are pink vs. of NFL gear for all teams, when no NFL team has pink as a color otherwise. These are specifically marketed to female fans.
 * Same with Major League Baseball.
 * For Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) since 2010, the NFL strongly encouraged people within the organization to wear pink gear. They even wrap pink around the goalposts. These items in 2011 got auctioned off in November for the cause.
 * The pink version of the portable Sega Master System.
 * That toolset in the picture comes in two colors, grey and pink.
 * And yes, firearms with pink furniture are getting easier and easier to find, triply so for pistols with synthetic frames. It's a lot less patronizing, though, when pink is just one of the many colors offered on a particular gun. If it just comes in black and pink, though, then it falls squarely into this.
 * The Talkgirl was nothing more than a Talkboy that was pink and purple.
 * Inverted in an episode of American Guns. The customer wanted her M1911 to be pink.
 * Played straight by Steph in an episode of Sons of Guns. She deliberately had a rifle painted white and agreed (Over her fathers objections) that pink would be an available custom color.