Candy Bar From Mars Aims For Women From Venus

The tag line on the package is "Naughty, but not that naughty." A TV spot starts with what looks like strangers having sex in a store dressing room. Currently the candy bar can be bought only California and online, but if all goes well, Mars is hoping women will be having Flings all across the country. But is this hyper-feminine, hyper-sexualized marketing coming on too strong?

"The overall campaign feels weird," Lisa Johnson says. "It feels creepy." Johnson is the co-author of Don't Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy — and How to Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market. She describes the marketing as a "full-frontal attack."

Oh my.

NPR

Something for the Ladies

New candy bar brand from Mars. Low-calorie chocolate bar named "Fling":

The candy is positioned as "Naughty, but not that naughty." In the first commercial that breaks next week from longtime roster shop BBDO, New York, a woman appears to enter a dressing room occupied by a man, with the two then getting undressed and proceeding to act, er, naughty. But then the camera pans over the top of the fitting rooms, revealing they are actually in two separate dressing rooms, as he struggles with his clothes and she secretly nibbles on a Fling.

How very Herbal circa 1998 of them.

Ad Age