Doritos launches 'crisps for women'

A female-friendly version of Doritos could be in the pipeline. Picture: WikiCommons

Now a leading snack manufacturer is to launch packets of crisps aimed specifically at women, who, it is claimed, prefer a “quieter” crunch.

The product, a female-friendly version of Doritos, will also be packaged in a smaller packet which the firm says will fit better in women’s handbags.

Women’s rights activists have hit out at the move, branding it a “tired gender stereotype”.

The marketing initiative follows similar products aimed at women, such as Bic’s “For Her” range of pens - which came in hues of pink and purple and featured a slimmer size to fit the smaller female hand - and pink razors which cost more than the men’s versions. Meanwhile, parents hit out after it emerged that footwear retailer Clarks branded a style of girls’ shoes as “Dolly babe” while the boys’ equivalent was called “Leader”.

The female global chief executive of PepsiCo, which owns Doritos, announced in a radio interview that women do not want crisp flavouring to stick to their fingers and that they “love to carry a snack in their purse” and need an accordingly sized packet of crisps.

Indra Nooyi said: “Although women would love to crunch crisps loudly, lick their fingers and pour crumbs from the bag into their mouth afterwards, they prefer not to do this in public.

“It’s not [a question of] male and female as much as ‘are there snacks for women that can be designed and packaged differently?’ And yes, we are looking at it, and we’re getting ready to launch a bunch of them soon.

“For women [it’s about] low-crunch, the full taste profile, not having so much of the flavour on the fingers and how can you put it in a purse. Because women love to carry a snack in their purse.”

A spokeswoman for the Women’s Equality Party said: “The idea of shrinking products for women is as old as the ad men making these decisions. Companies that perpetuate these tired gender stereotypes will continue to lose out on the single biggest consumer group: women.”

Perhaps ironically, the same radio interview saw Ms Nooyi claim that the firm needed to “solve” the problem of a lack of women in senior management positions in high-level business.

It is not yet known if the crisps will be sold in the UK.