Philips introduces a clothes iron for men

In stores this month: a clothes iron for men. Dutch electronics giant Philips felt that men wanted a more robust, heavy-duty tool to tackle hampers of laundry. Something with a larger grip and a more masculine look. So it created the GC4490, which offers ‘more power, more steam, more performance’. Philips describes the iron’s sleek yet rugged design and stresses its technical specifications, seemingly in an attempt to convince men that they’re buying a power tool or new gadget instead of a garment care appliance. Like a new hammer drill, the iron comes in a solid case. It will retail for EUR 79,99. On the surface, this is just another marketing gimmick. But Philips may have found a real gap in the appliance market. The man-iron is a mirror image of the tools for women we wrote about a few years back. Sure, a woman is perfectly capable of using a hammer that was originally designed for men’s larger hands. But comfort and performance might be improved by using one that was designed with women in mind. No reason the same doesn’t apply to men and irons. We’ll leave the sexual politics debate to other bloggers; meanwhile, this could be the ultimate Father’s Day gift 😉