Shampoo, deodorant, razors--these are just a few products which come in varieties that are made specifically for each sex. Ask a woman to give up her moisturizing, lavender-scented, vitamin-fortified shampoo in favor of a perfume-less, nutrient-devoid hair soap and you are likely to be met with a less-than-kind response. Ask a man to trade out his neon-colored, menthol-infused shave gel for a fragrant foam with words like "sexy" on the bottle and you can expect an equal level of derision in his answer. Both sexes know which products are theirs, and they are fine with that.

But to what extent are we willing to segment ourselves into buying gender-specific products? Well, BIC, the maker of an array of disposable products, is toeing that line in its efforts to market to women, and it is starting to find it may have crossed said line. The audacious product is a collection of "For Her" pens. A quick look at the pens' Amazon pages reveals a bevy of particularly snarky reviews that cover the gamut of sarcastic views. Beyond the facetious reviews on Amazon, the products have drawn the ire of columnists, too.

The thing is, this is not even close to being the first writing utensil aimed at female consumers. It's not likely the makers of these particular implements had a male audience in mind. So where exactly did BIC falter? The problem is in the messaging of the product description. A list of "Key Benefits" from the BIC website lists, "Tinted barrel (pink, purple, blue, green or orange) thiner [sic] for a better handling for women." Much of the backlash has come from BIC's assertion that women needed a less-cumbersome pen--that other pens were just too unwieldy for the female grip. A lot of women were apparently surprised and offended by this revelation.

If nothing else, BIC is generating a lot of publicity, but at the end of the day, from BIC's perspective, all that buzz is irrelevant if it's not selling pens. As of this writing, BIC For Her pens are the 17th best-selling pen on Amazon. Is that good enough to justify the irreverent reviews? You be the judge.

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.