The Business of Toys and Games
Pink Aisles and Blue Aisles: Gendered Toy Marketing
Why toys have been marketed separately to girls and boys, how market segmentation drives it, and why some stores and countries moved towards gender-neutral toys.
Walk into many toy shops and you’ll see pink aisles for girls and blue aisles for boys.
Why companies do it
- Market segmentation: separate products for separate groups can raise sales.
- Hand-me-downs: if a sister’s toys are pink, parents may buy new ones for a younger brother, increasing total sales.
- Simple messaging for advertisers.
It wasn’t always this way
Historians note that strongly gendered toy marketing grew in the 1980s and later, alongside TV advertising to children. Earlier toy catalogues were often more neutral.
Why it matters
- Construction and science toys build spatial and technical skills. If girls are steered away from them, it may reinforce gaps in STEM careers.
- Care and role-play toys build social skills that boys may miss.
Changes
- California passed a law in 2021 requiring large retailers to have a gender-neutral toy section.
- Some retailers removed “boys” and “girls” labels.
- LEGO announced in 2021 it would work to remove gender stereotypes from its toys.
The debate
Some argue children’s preferences partly differ naturally; others say marketing strongly shapes them. Most agree that giving children choice is good.
A toy company relabels its chemistry set from "for boys" to "for young scientists" and puts girls on the box. Sales rise as more parents buy it for daughters.
It intensified from the 1980s with TV advertising.
- Toy firms segment markets by gender to raise sales.
- Strongly gendered marketing grew from the 1980s.
- Toy choices can shape skills like spatial reasoning.
- California and some firms moved towards gender-neutral toys.
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