We have seen a lot of designs that have been gendered very pointlessly. This is definitely not something new, as designers have been doing this for centuries. There’s always something that distinguishes males and females. Be that a color, a certain approach to something, clothes, behaviors, or anything else. Today we’re presenting here a car that caught our eye with its gender-based design.
The 1965 Dodge LaFemme is a pink car designed exclusively only for women. The car provides every tiny detail, accessories ‘ to fit a woman’s needs.’ Starting from a pink umbrella, pink handbag to a lipstick holder. This car is screams “women only.”
Even though the company did quite some marketing, still women didn’t share the same opinion. Therefore, the cars remained in the showrooms covered in dust.
Despite the failed attempts to sell this model, Dodge didn’t stop there. They moved the pink accessories with the next year’s model. With a bright pink carpet, lavender interior paint, this car design kept its feminine concept.
There are some changes the car went through throughout the year. Dodge dropped the purse but kept the other accessories. However, this minor detail caused the sales to drop even more. Only 1,500 cars left the showrooms while the rest remained to collect dust.
The purse from the original design was created to have a special holder on the back of the front seat and was supposed to form a keystone in the middle of the car when put in. This little experiment made marketers rethink gender-based strategies. Also to eventually stop relying on it when it comes to such substantial purchases like cars.
