After releasing its floral-patterned Vivienne Tam–edition mini-notebook computer in 2008 (it’s tiny enough to put in your purse, ladies! And it comes with a purse!), it seems Hewlett-Packard is upping the ante on marketing to women in 2010. And frankly, it’s all a little annoying.
Not only will HP computers appear in the backgrounds and laps of characters on Sex and the City 2, Sarah Jessica Parker has also signed on as a spokesperson for HP’s “PC is Personal Again” campaign, and the company is opening up a series of stores across the globe that make us cringe.
The first of these shops, excuse us, boutiques, just opened in Berlin and features notebooks and mini-computers alongside handbags, jewelry, and shoes. Next month, similar shops will be rolling out in São Paolo, Tokyo, Beijing, and Milan, as well as local Macy’s and Lord & Taylors, to highlight what HP is calling its “spring collection.”
“Traditional computer-electronics stores are not female friendly,” Tracey Trachta, HP’s director of marketing, explains. “In many ways computers are accessories. They could be impulse purchases.”
Wait, really? For one, women don’t only buy things on impulse. Sometimes, like in the instance of purchasing an expensive computer, we actually do a little research. Which might not be the case when we encounter, say, those $7 bins at Marc by Marc. But life isn’t filled with $7 bins!
And that’s not even the worst of HP’s plans. “Sex & the City 2–inspired walk-in closets” will be popping up across fashion malls coast-to-coast, where HP PCs will nestle up against Manolo Blahniks (no joke) and other circa-2004 Carrie Bradshaw–endorsed products.
Oh, and also, customers in the shops will have the chance to walk down a faux catwalk. And get their pictures taken while clutching HP products.
Lord help us.
Memo Pad [WWD]
