Amazon Decides to Challenge Pampers for Tone-Deaf-to-Dads Title

Posted on 12. Sep, 2010 by rebel in Uncategorized

So here is the bad news: Amazon just started a new program designed to help personalize the shopping experience for parents. That’s not the bad news. The bad news is the name: “Amazon Mom.” It has all of the exclusionary, mom-focused thinking that drives me so nuts about diapers baked right into the title.

The good news is that Amazon knows that dads are out there, and they are explicit that we’re welcome:

I am a Dad (or Grandma, or Aunt) - am I eligible?

• Yes. Despite the name, Amazon Mom is open to anyone who is responsible for caring for a baby or young child-“Amazon Primary Caregiver” just didn’t have the same ring to it. Kidding aside, we chose this name because we noticed moms in social communities (like our Amazon discussion boards) looking to connect and share information about products and problems with other moms. We wanted a name that would let these groups know that this program was created with their unique needs in mind.

On second thought, maybe that level of complete tone-deafness (“We wanted a name that would let [moms] know that this program was created with their unique needs in mind.”) is bad news, too.

I would really be ranting here, except that I can’t do any better than Greg over at DaddyTypes.com, who isn’t having any of the target-market argument:

Where to even start? “Despite the name”? “created with their [sic] unique [sic] needs in mind”? If it’s “tailored to your family’s needs,” why not call it Amazon Family? Or Amazon Parent? If 85% of the customers turn out to be white, would they call it Amazon White People and just figure the other 15% will suck it up and sign on?

As they say: go read the whole thing.