Gift box aimed at single ladies is a total misfire
Iknew it was a mistake as soon as my doorman handed me the package with a raised eyebrow. The box had “#loveyourself ” and “SinglesSwag” printed on it in heavy lettering.
SinglesSwag, a new monthly subscription box service a la Birchbox, is unique — and uniquely condescending — in that it’s directed exclusively at single women. For $40 per month, solo women can treat themselves to a package of random items — anything from a lint roller to Bethenny Frankel’s book, “Skinnygirl Cocktails: 100 Fun & Flirty Guilt-Free Recipes” — meant to perk up the frumpy fraulein.
The box lumps all single women into a clichéd tribe of sad spinsters given to crying into tubs of Ben & Jerry’s.
The company shamelessly panders to every single person’s insecurity, capitalizing on its target demographic’s need to feel loved and included. And, it’s stuffed with mixed messages: If it’s so empowering to be alone, why do single ladies need a special box to pick them up?
But there’s an audience for it.
The company founder — not a single lady but a 36-year-old divorced dad named Jonathan Beskin — says the company has more than 10,000 subscribers.
“I thought there would be single people who haven’t gotten a gift in a while who would want something like that,” says Beskin, who launched the company in May and claims that 85 percent of subscribers buy the packages for themselves.
My box was filled with makeup primer, a journal that said “whatever” on the cover, a key chain with foam sunglasses reading “good vibes,” a bar of soap, cherry-scented anti-bacterial hand gel, cookies and an eye mask printed with the words “wake up and makeup.”
Apparently, being single means needing inanimate objects festooned with silly slogans. The only thing that really spoke to me were the cookies. A card inside the box said the “total retail value” of the items, many of them made in China, was $96. But to me, they were mostly worthless — and offensive.
I’m single, but I don’t require cheap, made-in-China crap and inspirational quotes to get through the day. I’d rather take the $480 I’d spend on a year of SinglesSwag and buy a plane ticket. No matter what your relationship status is, a vacation is a lot more fun than dollar-store trinkets.