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• 1 2025-03-21T13:51:38-04:00 Gendered Marketing Strategies (Markiyan) 81 plain 2025-04-08T12:00:21-04:00

  Looking back at the original product, competitors and other print ads used marketing tactics that not only helped sell the product, but also reinforced societal and gender expectations. Advertisements marketed these products not just as hairstyling tools, but also as essential multitasking tools for maintaining a woman’s appearance, aligning with ideas of femininity.

  A woman's self-worth is associated with the feminine mystique. According to feminist scholars, advertising often taught women how to “live out this [feminine] mystique by buying products that would enhance role performance in daily life” (Stern 1992, 14). The ads can be analyzed to see how they perpetuate beauty standards and social expectations that tied a woman's self-worth to maintaining a perfect appearance.
  
   

  Kindness 20

  Competitors like the Kindness 20 used similar marketing terms and tactics. The Kindness 20 catalogue advertisement emphasized speed, ease of use, and safety, using phrases like heating up in “less than 10 minutes” and requiring “no water or lotion.” This framed it as an efficient solution for achieving salon-quality hair at home. This reinforced the societal idea that women should be able to manage their hair quickly and effortlessly (Eaton’s 1969, 317).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  The Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter

  The Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter also focused on speed and ease of use. The packaging showed step-by-step instructions, which reinforced the idea that the product was simple to use. It also emphasized safety by stating the rollers were “not too hot to the touch.” The packaging shows a voluminous, curled hairstyle, reinforcing the beauty standards of the time (Esty n.d).
  
  
   

  Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter

  The Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter ad shows various hairstyles, and includes text suggesting how quickly women could change their look between daily activities. This ad also emphasises speed and convenience, showing how fast women could switch hairstyles (Retro Adverto 2012).
  
  
  
  
   

  Clairol Kindness Ad

  Another notable advertisement is the Clairol Kindness from the 1960s. This print ad from the United States features a woman with curlers and the phrase “men can’t love a head full of curlers,” suggesting that a woman wearing curlers is unattractive (eBay n.d). The ad reflects the societal pressures women faced to maintain a certain appearance, especially around beauty and femininity.
  
  
   

  Miss Carol Ad

  The Miss Carol ad from Chatelaine engages with the beauty standards of the time but presents a slightly different angle. The image shows an ad, that emphasizes the youthful appearance of women, even mothers. The slogan “Does She or Doesn’t She?” implies that the woman’s well-maintained hair might not be as effortless as it seems, reinforcing the idea that beauty standards extended into motherhood (Chatelaine 1961).
  
  Molyneux interprets the slogan as a tension between a woman’s maternal and sexualized roles in the 1960s. She argues that the ad shows the woman not only as a maternal figure, but also as a sexualized temptress'. This reflects a broader social expectation that women must be nurturing mothers while maintaining their appearance. The ad presents a narrow view of femininity, but according to Molyneux, it also empowers women, giving them the agency to take control of their beauty at home (Molyneux 2002, 126-132). 
  
  Following the Second World War, the 1950s and 1960s became a time of change as more women entered the workforce in Canada, which Chatelaine often discusses (Glew et al. 2016, 137-138). The magazine presented different views, highlighting how work could bring fulfillment and independence, but also raised concerns about its effect on marriage (Glew et al. 2016, 139-141). By 1961, more women were working, but many still stayed home, reflecting a transition and showing society being stuck between the old and new roles (Glew et al. 2016, 138-144).

  Takeaways

  Feminist scholars note that “advertisements are... considered one of the most influential means of colonization in that they are wrought for mass audiences, are simple to understand, and are accessible to nearly everyone in the invaded culture" (Stern 1992, 11). These advertisements focus on selling convenience, speed, and ease of use to consumers, while reinforcing societal gender roles by positioning women’s appearance as a reflection of their value and suggesting that maintaining beauty requires constant effort. 
  
  By examining advertisements for hair-setting products like the Kindness 20, Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter, Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter, Clairol Kindness, and Miss Carol, it's clear that these marketing tactics reinforced beauty standards tied to femininity. These products were marketed not just as hairstyling tools, but as essential items for maintaining a woman’s appearance. They reinforced the idea that women’s worth was tied to their physical appearance, and that maintaining beauty had to be quick, easy, and constant. These ads played a significant role in shaping and reinforcing the societal pressures women faced to meet these beauty standards.
  
  Products like the Ten-Ten Hair Setter reflected the societal change that women were experiencing. They allowed women to manage their appearance at home, offering a sense of autonomy and efficiency. The expectation to maintain beauty never disappeared, instead, it was made more convenient.

• 1 2025-03-21T13:46:29-04:00 Competitor Analysis and Advertisements 17 plain 2025-03-27T13:53:34-04:00

  Competitor analysis  

  Due to the lack of catalogue listings and advertisements on the Ten-Ten Hair Setter, we analyize catalogue listings, packaging, advertisements of competitors and similar products to gain a better understanding of the Ten-Ten's design and features. This analysis considers how consumer behaviour concepts, and perceptual biases, may have influenced the products design and how consumers perceived it.

  Kindness 20

  The Kindness 20 is a very similar product to the Ten-Ten Hair Setter and may have been a direct competitor, sharing key characteristics with the Ten-Ten. A catalogue listing from Eaton’s Spring Summer Catalog (1969) shows that it was sold with pins and a handle on the case, reinforcing the idea that these features were likely standard and would have also been included with the Ten-Ten (Eaton’s 1969, 317). This emphasis on portability and convenience reflects consumer preferences, valueing products that offered efficiency and ease of use.

   

  Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter

  Another product that provides insight into the design of hair setters during this period is the Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter. The packaging shows the British pound symbol, suggesting that this model is from the United Kingdom. The Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter also features removable rollers and a base designed to heat them efficiently, highlighting similar key design elements that reflect the growing consumer demand for speed and ease of use (Esty n.d.). By promoting speed and ease, the Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter appealed to consumers who saw problems when they perceive a gap between their current state – using regular curlers, and their desired state of achieving faster, salon-quality results at home (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 2014, 350).

  90s Hairsetting Devices

  In later years, there is an increased variety of hair setters, which may hint at a rising demand and growing popularity. A page from the 1993/94 Consumer Distributing Catalog shows a wide selection of hair-setting devices compared to earlier decades. Descriptions in the catalog show advancements in design, with products offering features like larger roller sizes, more styling options, and soft cushioned rollers, suggesting a shift toward comfort and customization. (Consumer Distributing 1993-94, 225). This increased variety suggest that manufacturers were responding to consumer feedback and the growing demand for comfort and customization. This increase in variety aligns with Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard’s point that consumers are likely to seek products that match their values, preferences, and previous experiences, reinforcing perceptual bias (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 2014, 36).

  
  These products—the Kindness 20, Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter, and later 1990s models show how consumer behavior influences product design and innovation. Consumers engage in extended decision-making, when they perceive a gap between their current state and their desired state (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 2014, 350). With hair setters, advertising features like speed, ease of use, and portability are the desired gap. As the products evolved, manufacturers responded to growing demands for comfort and customization, reflecting consumers’ increasing bias toward products that aligned with their personal preferences and lifestyle needs.

  For the Ten-Ten Hair Setter, these insights suggest that its design and advertising likely focused on similar values—speed, convenience, and simplicity. The Ten-Ten’s features, such as its portability and efficient heating mechanism, would have been key selling points, and advertisements may have highlighted how the product could provide salon-like results at home in a fraction of the time. The marketing would have likely advertised it as a time-saving beauty solution, promising quick, hassle-free results.

  
  
   

  Advertisements

  Advertisements can also help us get a better understanding of how beauty standards and societal expectations were communicated through products like hair setters.

  Clairol Kindness Ad

  One interesting advertisement for a comparable product to the Ten-Ten, was the Clairol Kindness from the 1960s. It was a print ad from the United States, it uses a distinctive approach by featuring a woman with curlers, paired with the phrase “men can’t love a head full of curlers,” suggesting that the image of a woman with curlers in her hair is unattractive (eBay n.d). The ad reflects the societal pressures women face to maintain a certain appearance, particularly in terms of beauty and femininity.

   

   

  Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter Ad

  Another advertisement to consider is the Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter. The image shows how the ad promotes the product as a quick, convenient way for women to achieve salon-quality hairstyles at home. The ad highlights how women can change their hairstyle quickly between daily activities, reinforcing the idea of speed and ease of use. The ad’s imagery and wording suggest that the product offers a fast solution for maintaining a polished appearance (Retro Adverto 2012).

  Miss Carol Ad

  While many ads focus on women’s beauty, the Miss Carol ad takes a different angle by addressing beauty and femininity in the context of motherhood. The image shows the ad, which emphasizes the youthful appearance of women, even those who are mothers. The slogan “Does She or Doesn’t She?” suggests that the woman’s well-maintained hair might not be as effortless as it appears, reinforcing the idea that beauty standards extend into motherhood (Chatelaine 1961).