Tamagotchi marketing

Hey!

I'm a huge fan of tamagotchis.. The only thing is, I've noticed that bandai are marketing tamagotchi for girls now. I miss the old days when tamagotchi was neutral! I can see how it works for girls with all the small charms available to add on to your tamas etc. and there's nothing wrong with siding with one gender it's just a bit embarrassing for me, a 24 year old who loves tamagotchis, to want to continue my collection and continue playing when they're clearly marketed for girls!

For example, I took a look at the new Tamagotchi 4U.. I was so upset to see how it seems to be exclusively for girls. The original days of tamagotchi didn't seem to appeal to one particular gender. Does anyone else feel the same? I don't understand why they would make it for girls only? It sort of takes the fun out of it now that it's trying to appeal to only one gender. Don't get me wrong, I know some guys who don't have a problem with it, but for me it's just a bit weird to get into the current modern tamagotchi world as a male.

I wonder why bandai started marketing Tamagotchi for girls? Perhaps it's the culture of things in Japan that allows them to continue selling tamas by offering all these little accessories to personalize them.

I hope one day they start marketing a new tamagotchi as neutral, not just for one specific gender.

I didn't think the 4U looked really gender specific. If anything, there were colors that could appeal to anyone, and faceplates could be used to customize it to your liking! Probably one of the most neutral designs since the TamaGo if you ask me!

Yeah the actual tamagotchi 4U itself looks like it could be neutral but I mean the advertisements etc. that I see online are obviously showing bandai's attempt to market it towards girls

Tamagotchi in Japan has always been aimed towards little girls <:3 Surprisingly for this one, it's being marketed towards older women as well.

I know how you feel man, I really know how you feel.

When I was small where I lived the Tamagotchis used to be something ''for boys'', most boys in my school played with them while the girls played with their dolls and barbies, when I came back to tamagotchi after a lot of years I was really shocked everything had became so girly o_o

I certainly don't like the girliness, but as a tama lover I have to deal with, I still prefer older characters or new male characters over all the newer girly moe kawaii desu characters xD

But I'm quite happy with how the 4U is comming though, the ID and iD L were really girly, and then the P's was WAY TOO GIRLY, and if I remember well, those last 3 were just marketed towards little girls (and so is the TF), with the 4U it seems they are keeping it more appealing to girls, but they are also taking into consideration the older and male audiences (the advertisement has a boy!), so they made this tamagotchi you can customize as you wish with the faceplates~~

Also Tamagotchi L.I.F.E. Started as a fashion brand for only girls but now they are having some (even if just a few) males too, so I think they heard our complaints~

I think it's Bandai's attempt at keeping Tamagotchi popular/relevant. They probably think that girls are more likely to be attracted to the concept of virtual pets, so they direct all of their marketing towards them (perhaps this was originally the case, given the 'kawaii' design of the characters and the nurturing aspects of the game. Who knows?). Based on the assumption that females make up the majority of the buyers, a gender neutral design direction would attract less females and thus less buyers, thus Bandai would want to appeal to female buyers the most. The natural way to do so would be to make designs girly, implement feminine features, etc. Lastly, based on the success of 'girly' models like the P's, Bandai is probably keeping up with this direction because, well, it works.

Of course I'm not saying that I agree that Tamagotchis should be a female thing, but that seems to be what Bandai thinks. I think the best thing to do would be to market it towards girls, but in advertisements show boys as well. They could make the majority of their designs female but also include masculine or gender neutral designs. Even if there aren't enough male buyers to justify those designs, I'm pretty sure that there are girls out there who aren't crazy about super feminine designs.

i noticed the tamas getting girlier as well, and i'm glad the 4U looks less girly/more neutral.

I would like the tamas to be less girlier as well, but it doesn't matter THAT much to me. actually it does oops

i'll still buy them for the tama itself if i like the tama.

Why do people complain about stuff being oriented at girls but never complain about stuff being oriented towards boys? Sexist Girls are allowed to have toys too... not everything has to appeal to boys also.

Anyway Tamagotchis are oriented towards girls, that's all there is to it, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Just like Tamagotchis are aimed at children much younger than anyone on TamaTalk but we still enjoy playing with them.

Eternal Mametchi Fan said:

Why do people complain about stuff being oriented at girls but never complain about stuff being oriented towards boys? Sexist Girls are allowed to have toys too... not everything has to appeal to boys also.

Anyway Tamagotchis are oriented towards girls, that's all there is to it, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Just like Tamagotchis are aimed at children much younger than anyone on TamaTalk but we still enjoy playing with them.

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There's no problem on it being marketed towards girls as long as they keep SOMETHING for the boys fans, they have always done it before, all Tamagotchis except the P's and the ID L have had some boyish/gender neutral designs, and I think they should keep that, make more for girls since they are the main audience, but keep in mind some boy fans exist.

The iD L is okay because yellow, green and blue are pretty gender neutral colors, but the P's is OVERgirly in ALL it's designs, what makes it really unapealing to male fans xD

the 4U for example has ONLY 1 boyish faceplate, and to me that's more than enough, but the P's has nothing

I can't really complain about the characters though, sure BanDai is making more female characters than male, but in my opinion all the males they have done recently have been really cool, while the girls designs have been really boring. I'd rather have fewer good designs than a lot of unappealing ones, so thank you BanDai xD

And girls still have a lots of toys as boys do, I just wished there were not toys ''for girls or for boys'', everything should be for everyone

I know what you feel, but I don't care if Bandai changed the target for Tamagotchi (Sadly, Tamagotchi Friends is marketed for teen girls too). For me the only "girlie" look tama is the P's, but i love it and I've changed the faceplate design (not finished yet, i need a pierce to complete my work)

DJYellow22 said:

Tamagotchi in Japan has always been aimed towards little girls <:3 Surprisingly for this one, it's being marketed towards older women as well.

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No darling, Tamagotchis were unisex during 1996-2009, when the +Color was first released, on Tamagotchi Channel there was written "otoko no ko" on the picture of the blue one, I can't speak Japanese, but it means boy.

The Japanese commercial of Tamagotchi Party On (2006) has both female and male kids.

When I search Tamagotchi in Japanese on Google I can see various pictures of male kids, like posing in the cinema near the movie poster (2007-2008).

Aki Maita herself said that she created Tamagotchi for everyone (is she still alive?).

There are many boyish Japanese Connection designs too, like a burning Keitai/Keitai Akai, it's a special CoroCoro Comics magazine version, CoroCoro is more for boys I think if they've done such a boyish design, and the first Tamagotchi manga (1997-1998) was serialized on CoroCoro, but also one of the first 2000's manga about the Connection, I'm not talking about the ones made by Yascorn.

There's also a clear black pirate Akai, I don't think it's a girls design...and there are only TEENAGE BOYS and girls in the Osutchi Mesutchi CMs.

I think the first Tama to be girls only is the iD, I think Tamagotchi started to be girls only in fall 2009.

Probably because the "kawaii" aura of Tamagotchis attract girls naturally. You wouldn't see jocks with P's I guess. And I dislike that. Glad to see the 4U's actually gender-neutralish but I do hope they lessen all the OMG SO KAWAII CANDIES AND HEARTS EVERYWHERE OMG SO FAB YAY HEART HEART FOREVER YAY SO FLUFFY AND SO SPARKLY SO KAWAII AND CUTE OMG. They should make it more gender-neutral. The advertisments, I mean. Pink is a big factor that contributes to the lack of equilibrium, to be honest. They should at least change the color scheme of their website and advertisments to yellow or light blue to not make the boys gag and instead be comfortable with watching or viewing them. I won't go all detailed with my opinions because I might end up making a whole book about this but to put it short, BANDAI WHAT THE HELL MAN Y'ALL DOIN' IT WRONG UGH.

Pink is a boyish color but that's just my opinion... just about all girls I know hate pink and more boys I've met like pink

SupahCow090 said:

Probably because the "kawaii" aura of Tamagotchis attract girls naturally

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I don't think so, Pokemon are kawaii too, and boys like them more than girls, they're not girly as female Tamas, but Tamagotchis are boys too, and there are even girly Pokemon that are asexual or both gender, like Jigglypuff, Gardevoir and Mew.Kirby is kawaii and PINK and boys here in my country like Kirby more than girls.

Anny Biondi said:

I don't think so, Pokemon are kawaii too, and boys like them more than girls, they're not girly as female Tamas, but Tamagotchis are boys too, and there are even girly Pokemon that are asexual or both gender, like Jigglypuff, Gardevoir and Mew.Kirby is kawaii and PINK and boys here in my country like Kirby more than girls.

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Kirby is a platform beat 'em up game suck your enemies and steal their abilities oh yeah mofos game and Pokemon is asdfghjkl;' to explain but yeah, at least the two you've mentioned are targeted to both genders, whereas Tamagotchis are more aimed at girls. What I just hate is their advertisments and Tamagotchi design. The gameplay of Tamagotchis never have been girly, right? But then their designs make it seem more girly which makes boys, like me, be uncomfortable to bring them out and play them *cough P's cough*. ideka where I'm going here but Bandai, you crey.

Yes, but if a boy who doesn't know Kirby or Pokemon sees a Jigglypuff plush or a videogame with a cute Pikachu or Kirby on the cover surely he wouldn't buy them.

Tamagotchis like Mametchi and Kuchipatchi aren't girly, a boy who sees a Tama-Go with Kuchipatchi on the boxart near a Pokemon videogame with Pikachu on the boxart he would buy the Tama instead.

It just for the modern Tamagotchi stuff boxart and vpets designs + commercials, like Kirby is loved by little boys, if Bandai would make different boxarts, designs and commercials little boys would be more attracted to Tamagotchis, I mean, Animal Crossing is a life simulator, New Leaf has that cute girly pink fluffy Reese and that cute fluffy Isabelle, but boys still buy it because the commercial explains the features and actually makes it cool and awesome.

If Tamagotchi commercials were less "Look!So cute!Let's play with my fluffy Tama, let's make her pretty" and more !Tamagotchi is the ultimate digital friend!Play with your Tamagotchi!Feed it!Take care of it and explore the world around you and your digital friend and have fun with lots of features, DLC and connect with your friends' Tamagotchis" every kids would buy it.

Anny Biondi said:

Yes, but if a boy who doesn't know Kirby or Pokemon sees a Jigglypuff plush or a videogame with a cute Pikachu or Kirby on the cover surely he wouldn't buy them.

Tamagotchis like Mametchi and Kuchipatchi aren't girly, a boy who sees a Tama-Go with Kuchipatchi on the boxart near a Pokemon videogame with Pikachu on the boxart he would buy the Tama instead.

It just for the modern Tamagotchi stuff boxart and vpets designs + commercials, like Kirby is loved by little boys, if Bandai would make different boxarts, designs and commercials little boys would be more attracted to Tamagotchis, I mean, Animal Crossing is a life simulator, New Leaf has that cute girly pink fluffy Reese and that cute fluffy Isabelle, but boys still buy it because the commercial explains the features and actually makes it cool and awesome.

If Tamagotchi commercials were less "Look!So cute!Let's play with my fluffy Tama, let's make her pretty" and more !Tamagotchi is the ultimate digital friend!Play with your Tamagotchi!Feed it!Take care of it and explore the world around you and your digital friend and have fun with lots of features, DLC and connect with your friends' Tamagotchis" every kids would buy it.

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OMG PREACH IT EXACTLY OMG YOU JUST READ MY MIND ARE YOU LIKE PSYCHIC OMG PREACH

Anny Biondi said:

Yes, but if a boy who doesn't know Kirby or Pokemon sees a Jigglypuff plush or a videogame with a cute Pikachu or Kirby on the cover surely he wouldn't buy them.

Tamagotchis like Mametchi and Kuchipatchi aren't girly, a boy who sees a Tama-Go with Kuchipatchi on the boxart near a Pokemon videogame with Pikachu on the boxart he would buy the Tama instead.

It just for the modern Tamagotchi stuff boxart and vpets designs + commercials, like Kirby is loved by little boys, if Bandai would make different boxarts, designs and commercials little boys would be more attracted to Tamagotchis, I mean, Animal Crossing is a life simulator, New Leaf has that cute girly pink fluffy Reese and that cute fluffy Isabelle, but boys still buy it because the commercial explains the features and actually makes it cool and awesome.

If Tamagotchi commercials were less "Look!So cute!Let's play with my fluffy Tama, let's make her pretty" and more !Tamagotchi is the ultimate digital friend!Play with your Tamagotchi!Feed it!Take care of it and explore the world around you and your digital friend and have fun with lots of features, DLC and connect with your friends' Tamagotchis" every kids would buy it.

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Couldn't agree more ^_^

Littlest Pet Shop used to be gender-neutral but is marketed towards girls now. Most toys are either one gender or the other. Baby dolls are marketed at girls. Pokemon toys are mainly marketed at boys (but doesn't mean girls can't like them). Little girls might mistake gender-neutrality for boyishness, and they wouldn't want the toy. So I think it's good to market it at girls but doesn't mean boys can't like it.

Aiming something at girls isn't sexist, but thinking everything must appeal to boys is. Nobody complains about Hot Wheels cars being too boyish. So why all the complaints about girls' toys being too girly? Why do people hate stuff for girls so much and treat cute pink stuff like poison? ono People still think boys are better than girls I guess.

Eternal Mametchi Fan said:

Littlest Pet Shop used to be gender-neutral but is marketed towards girls now. Most toys are either one gender or the other. Baby dolls are marketed at girls. Pokemon toys are mainly marketed at boys (but doesn't mean girls can't like them). Little girls might mistake gender-neutrality for boyishness, and they wouldn't want the toy. So I think it's good to market it at girls but doesn't mean boys can't like it.

Aiming something at girls isn't sexist, but thinking everything must appeal to boys is. Nobody complains about Hot Wheels cars being too boyish. So why all the complaints about girls' toys being too girly? Why do people hate stuff for girls so much and treat cute pink stuff like poison? ono People still think boys are better than girls I guess.

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Well, the thing is that girls can like boys stuff but boys can't like girl stuff. If a girl likes hot wheels or Pokemon, she is a cool girl, but if a boy likes Baby dolls or pinkish things, he suddenly called femenine/gay/whatever in a wrong way.

Boys get more hated for liking girl things and that's what makes it unfair, is easier for a toy to change the way they advertise their product than for the society to change their way of thinking, People still think girls are better than boys I guess