Monster Energy, a leading brand of energy drinks, has joined the gendered marketing club. The company recently announced a new line of caffeinated beverages with the goal of attracting more female customers. However, they totally missed the mark.
The release has faced lots of backlash from none other than the women they hoped to attract. The drink seems to be a “female spin-off” of Monster Energy drinks and will go by the name of “FLRT.” The cans are covered in pastels, flowers and are supposed to be “your new crush in a can” – cute, right?
The drink will come in 4 different flavors: Strawberry Fling, Guava Lava, Berry Tempting and Sunset Squeeze. I guess the original Monster Energy line, with flavors like Ultra Black, Electric Blue and Khaotic, must have been far too loud and intimidating for the girls.
Rather than sending women to the shelves, this new hyper-feminized branding has sent them straight to social media. Multiple X posts describe the launch as misogynistic, with one post listing the line as “one of the most polarizing consumer products on the internet.” Others call out the brand for making tone-deaf references to feminism, accusing the line of “boiling women down to sexuality.”
This isn’t the first brand to miss the mark with a campaign geared towards women. In 2015, Bic released a new line of pens designed specifically for women. “Bic For Her” consisted of two pens in pink and purple, marketed as a stylish accessory for every woman’s purse. I, for one, have never used a black pen and thought it was masculine.
