Tuesday, May 6, 2014

L'eggs Discriminates Against Men

It is 2014, and men have been wearing hosiery publically for probably almost 20 years, if not more. I think the first few discussions appeared on the web in around 1995, give or take a couple of years. In that time, we have made a lot of achievements. We have talked about it. We have shared it with our friends and family. We shown photos. We have made our views known to the companies in a very dignified and polite manner. We have made an effort to distance ourselves from fetishes. We have bought hosiery. We have encouraged women to buy hosiery. We even sell hosiery! Some of us have tried to accommodate women and their concerns, even when there should be nothing to be concerned about.

Despite all the support that men give to L'eggs, L'eggs still insists on preventing men from entering L'eggs contests.

There are so many men that could benefit from winning these contests. Let us discuss a couple of types.

A type of man that could benefit from winning this contest might be a single father, who has a daughter that could use hosiery for school. Currently children are not allowed to enter all contests. Ideally, the father could enter on the child's behalf. Many companies make opportunities to connect with the community by helping others, but L'eggs sees it as a cost and as something that ruins their reputation. In other words, L'eggs sees helping single fathers with daughters as bad.

Contrast L'eggs attitude and actions with WestJet.

For some context, see WestJet vice-president Richard Bartrem explain why they did what they did.

This is probably the first time a big corporation, and especially an airline, did something like this for Christmas. In that sense, it is unusual, but there is nothing unusual in the sense that people want to be generous at times, and they care about others. People are not always like that, but they can be like that often. It is not unusual in general. It is just unusual in this type of circumstance.

L'eggs should be helpful and kind like WestJet.

Another type of man that could benefit from winning this contest might be a man, who needs that leg support. L'eggs could look at this as an opportunity to develop a new niche market, but they would rather keep that market away. Most companies argue to the death that their products work. If that is the case, then is L'eggs saying that their products do not work on men?

So, there are single fathers, and men in need of leg support. On top of that, there are hosiery reviewers and bloggers, and there are men who wear for warmth. What about men who buy gifts for their wives? Does L'eggs want to influence purchasers?

The thing is that L'eggs does not have to invest in a campaign targeted only at men. A campaign targeted only at men would cost a lot, and probably not bring in a worth while return of investment. However, if L'eggs includes men, then they will no doubt cultivate that community at no extra cost, which brings a greater return of investment.

Contrast L'eggs attitude and actions with Silks Hosiery's attitude and actions: Have you liked our Facebook page yet? You'll automatically win a pair of Black Iris tights! [only open to Canadian residents]. We can see that they are open to men, but they are also closed to those outside of Canada. I do not think that many will complain about L'eggs only being open to the US or above a certain age group. Many contests are like that. That is okay. Most contests do not prevent men from entering.

In summary of all that I have written so far: L'eggs has the right to limit their contests to a certain place and a certain age group, since this is normal, but they really ought to try to be as good as other companies or better. L'eggs could knock out some competition, by portraying the brand as accommodating and supportive of others. Keeping others out does not send that message.

How do we apply this? I think that the time has come that we avoid buying their products, and discourage all people from buying their products.

Obviously, I recommend buying Silks instead, since they have proven themselves as nice and kind, and since I sell the brand, but I am confident that there are other brands out there. Please share with me your favourite brands that like men.

Thank you for reading!

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