ink and point
It’s interesting how Sanford is marketing the Sharpie permanent marker as a lifestyle product. They ran a commercial during the Super Bowl, they’re promoting their new retractable Sharpie, and now they even offer custom Sharpie pens, albeit with a limited number of design options. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about permanent markers, but when I buy one I buy a Sharpie. Why are they expanding their product line and brand image?
If associate Sharpies with any lifestyle, I associate them with graffiti writers, who use the pens for tagging bathrooms and other surfaces. At first I thought they might be trying to capitalize on their association with a hip subculture, but it doesn’t seem like graffiti factors into their ads. Perhaps they’re trying to recuperate their image, or maybe they just want to own the permanent marker business.
