Guest blog submitted by jmgbme
About a year ago, I went with my boyfriend to his hometown. They have a candy store there that sells candy from all over the world. It’s a fairly popular tourist spot, so of course he took me one night. It was there I discovered what may perhaps be my favorite candy bar: the Yorkie. The bold, yellow-orange lettering flashed up at me defiantly, sneering: Yorkie: It’s Not for Girls. The “O” in Yorkie had even been changed to a no female sign. I was offended.
I was also impressed.
It takes a bold company to make a candy bar that is so exclusive. In fact, as I learned later, the commercials actually depict women dressed as men attempting to buy Yorkies, only to be shut down by someone (of course, someone male) who sniffs them out.
As for that night, though, as soon as I saw that I was not supposed to buy it simply because of my gender, it was settled. I was buying it. I even took a few photos with the candy bar to commemorate the experience. I’m a sucker for milk chocolate, and the Yorkie didn’t disappoint. Now, anytime my boyfriend goes home, I ask him to bring me back a Yorkie.
Isn’t it funny how sometimes just being told that we shouldn’t do something seals the deal that come heck or high water, we will do it? Thinking back, I can’t help but wonder if a faint trace of Eve was surfacing in me when, at the sight of one candy bar, I thought, “They can’t tell me what to do!”
In Genesis 3, a serpent points out to Eve that he knows why God doesn't want her eating fruit from one tree: if she eats fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, she’ll know good and evil like God. This is new information to her, and suddenly, that tree she had passed by so many times isn’t looking so bad. If it's good enough for God, why not good enough for her? She gives the fruit a second glance and realizes it doesn’t hurt that the fruit looks pretty good…next thing we know, everybody’s eaten some and the trials and tribulations of life kick in.
And it all started with the idea that Someone is holding out on us.
Does being told what you can and can’t do bother you? Have you ever gotten suckered into something just to prove you could do it?
Comments (22)
that ad is genius... now i want to buy some to leave around the house, where my wife will see them!
it says not for "girls". women are another story...
How dare they! God created chocolate for women, after all....
Absolutely brilliant marketing-- Men will want it because here's something that isn't sissy, and women will want it because they're not supposed to have it-- and splendid application!
I once heard of a very clever dad who got his kids not just to eat but to beg for their vegetables by telling them, "Technically, you're not allowed to eat kohlrabi until you turn 18."
They can keep it. I'll take my Lindt 85% cocoa squares
Ah boy, have I ever experienced the forbidden fruit syndrome... I announced to the world a few months ago that at the age of seventeen I would be working full time, as well as taking eighteen credits at the local college. They told me I couldn't do it. Now I'm beginning to wonder if there was some deep wisdom in those words.. Too late now! Hopefully my pride can keep me up and energized.
I think Yorkie is from the UK 'cause we have it in just about every supermarket.I've always wanted to try it...but stick to the no girls rule.Ofcourse being told what you can and can't do is annoying.The forbidden and mysterious is always more interesting.
lol, I grew up with three older brothers, so there were a lot of things that were implied (never said outloud) that I couldn't do because I'm a girl. Playing football, building things, riding dirt bikes, paintball...those were all guy things. My brothers never said I could do any of those things, but I always got the impression that because I was a girl, I was expected to do girl things and not guy things. To this day, I despise most "girl" things, like shopping, make up, and spending hours deciding what to wear. and now, thanks to that ad, I'm going to hunt down a Yorkie and devour it...guy style
I suppose I'd be tempted to try one as well. I always had this thing if it's only for men, I'll prove a women can also do/have. Growing up somehow convinced me that men have unique abilities/gifts women don't and vs.
Some years ago I witnessed a child begging for an item, after a few min. she'd beg for something else. Each time the mother responded with " oh honey, I'd like to have that too". Now as a mother I wonder if she was somehow trying to teach the child that she also "wanted" but didn't buy.
Forbidden fruit is always fun. I myself have indulged my temptations far too often in life...or not often enough, I still can't decide.
But, uh...they say it'll kill ya in the long run.
Wait, okay.... GREAT food for thought. But why can't girls have Yorkies? It's like a boys club that says "no girls allowed."
Can you explain this to me? =o
Haha ... all I can say is ... it's pretty funny actually. I mean, please don't feel offended ... perhaps it's just for fun and that's it ... but well anyway, even though I'm not a girl ... as a boy i also find it a little bit nonsensical ... haha i still can't figure out the purpose it have that sign on the package XD ... but well ... i know hwy girls find it offensive .. kinda a sexism ... *nods*
It absolutely bugs me to be told what I can or can't do...I like to live by my own rules, and I firmly believe that I can do anything I put my mind to.
The only thing I can think of that I did just to prove I could do it was to try beer. It was terrible, and although I thought it would make me cool, I soon found out that it only made me feel like a follower, instead of the leader I had always been.
Actually they also make a bar of Yorkie with a pink wrapper especially for girls/ladies/females etc etc. The great thing about selling 'yorkies' is that when a lad comes to the counter with it you can get sarcastic and say 'sorry can't sell it to you, it's not for girls'. Rather amusing to see their faces. Another point on the entire 'yorkie - not for girls' thing is a woman actually threatened to sue a shop because they literally refused to sell her one because of the slogan.
but back to the actual point (though I love the metaphor you've used), no I don't tend to fall into the trap of doing something in order to prove I can or can't do it. I've been in situations like that before but I've never been the type to feel I need to prove my abilities by being hounded into doing something. Depending on where the advice of doing or not doing something as well is something I usually balance out.
Putting it into a christian/church perspective on some things I may receive advice from my leaders about doing or not doing something, but generally being advice it's entirely up to myself to make up my own mind. however in a more serious situation where they feel the need to strongly advise against doing something I always take their advice on-board and go with it because I know they are looking out for my best interest. But as I said, it's all about what kind of situation is going on. Last year I had to make a lot of descisions and take a lot of advice on board about something which was certainly rocking my boat in terms of my spiritual walk and had to really take on board the advice given to me, despite some of it being hard to take. Of course I'm thankful of it now, but at the time it was a rather difficult period to go through. There was a time when I did feel like going agaisnt what I was being told but thankfully I didn't and I pulled through that dark time and a better, stronger person because of it.
And back to the subject of yorkies, the reason why it's 'not for girls' is because it's large and chunky and they are just playing on the whole 'Man's man' kind of thinking. it's all rather tongue in cheek and a big laugh. If you like Yorkies, I suggest the Biscuit and Raisin flavor, they are delicious.
Personally I prefer Cadburys Boost or a Twirl, but each to their own xx
@Pickwick12@xanga - AMEN!
@ael_ecurai@xanga -
Sometimes I think I could eat it even if it was totally unsweetened.
yeah, now i totally want to eat one, and i'd never even heard of it before. I am a chocoholic, so that's my excuse.
what i've always wondered about...Just For Men Hair Coloring. What would happen if a woman used it? would it turn you into a man? would it make your hair look more mannish?
i think it's supposed to be so that guys don't think of hair dyeing as "girly" but still...what a sexist name. If I start going gray, I'm going to buy some Just For Men. So there. And when I'm done I'm going to eat a Yorkie and watch football...even though i hate football.
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I can't believe women are eating Yorkies now. They so aren't even cool anymore.
its so true... girls always want things that are forbidden to them. like an ex-bf she lost interested in.. suddenly, now that hes crazy over another belle, she's on top of his life. typical.
I think that candy wrapper says a lot about the marketing company that developed it. They assume people think sexism is funny and harmless, and they assume the average citizen is uneducated and gullible and immature. I would hope that the public would prove them wrong, but I guess I would be misplacing my hopes, now wouldn't I?
God created us male and female, and as such we have been created with different roles. Just because we are different however, does not mean that one is less than the other. I think that's where the forbidden fruit comes in. We see someone who has something and says we can't have it, and makes us think that somehow we are lesser if we don't. The candy says its not for girls,so in our minds girls are less if they don't have this candy.
Haha, in Russia they have a chocolate bar called "Men only" by Hersheys. I'm pretty sure it's just a marketing scheme.