Ever since candy makers and confectioners discovered how to make chocolate a sweet, delectable treat, there has been a market segment teeming with willing buyers--women.

In fact, it seems almost silly that we're writing a blog post on marketing chocolate to women, since chocolate in and of itself is a powerful tool for marketing to women. But there's been some discussion surrounding a product hitting the chocolate marketplace.

Cadbury, the maker of those custard-filled chocolate eggs that are inescapable around Easter time, has a new chocolate bar that it's marketing to women. The Crispello bar has a number of features that the candy maker believes will appeal to women. They include:

• It is only 165 calories.
• Instead of being one bar, it is three pieces.
• It comes in a resealable package.
• It is a chocolate wafer bar.

What's so special about the chocolate wafer mix? According to a spokesman from Cadbury, “The mix of wafer and chocolate is a lighter way to eat chocolate and we know from experience that women are attracted to this particular format." If they say so...

This new gender-specific treat has drawn some ire from people in the press and on the internet, including the woman's editor at The Telegraph, a United Kingdom newspaper. She is perturbed by the new Cadbury confection, saying that it's broad categorization of "what women want" is off-putting. She doesn't like that advertisers are constantly segmenting the population into broad categories, which they often stereotype. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change since marketers are often trying to reach large swaths of people, and not extremely specific niche markets.

We understand that everyone wants to think of themselves as a special snowflake, but advertisers have to paint with some broad strokes to reach large audiences.

What do you think? Is Ms. Barnett unjustly upset or does she have a point? Also, what are your thoughts of a chocolate bar made for women? We'd love to hear them.

FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.