Maytag Skybox: an exercise in consumerism

Summary:
Maytag's new "Skyline" product flagrantly embraces not only the sport-to-manufactured beverage association, but a specific product delivery as well. The Skybox product and marketing provides lessons about emotion-based marketing and emotion-based product function.

The Maytag skybox is one of the oddest consumer products that I have seen in a while. Its marketing is even odder. At first, I dismissed the Skybox (product and marketing) as simply preying on the worst excessive consumeristic tendencies, and I still think that way--mostly.

Functionally, the Skybox is just a refrigerator--that is, it keeps things cold. What makes it unique is that it delivers beverages in a vending machine style, has a "button disable" option (i.e. so kids can be locked out from getting beer when pushing the "beer" button), and it has "customizable" sides (i.e. you can buy sport team-specific themes). At around $500, it costs about 4 times as much as a comparable mini-refrigerator. Thus the Skybox appears to be a poor purchase in terms of cost-to-functional value. There must be other (non-pragmatic) reasons why a person would want to purchase it.

Emotionally, the Skybox may be a very desirable product for some people. Though there are interesting gender-based emotions that the marketing evokes--e.g. it is marketed to men for their "mancaves" (a term that Maytag trademarked)--I will avoid this discussion in lieu of other emotional aspects of the product.
As uncomfortable as I am with the idea of admitting that there are markets that not only accept but embrace sport-to-beverage associations, I guess there is no point in denying this reality. Many people like manufactured beverages and many people like sports. The marketing that pairs beverage brands and sports franchises (e.g. "Drink X, the official beverage of this sport franchise") has strongly associated these items in the minds of certain consumers. The ethics behind imposing multinational corporations' interests on the average person is another discourse entirely, but a cursory examination will show that the average person does not benefit from it. I am uncomfortable with the fact that people respond to this association with open wallets for big-ticket purchases. It is scary to think that many people who buy the Skybox will have never consciously recognized this association. It is even scarier that other purchasers may recognize the association but embrace it anyway. Regardless of whether it is recognized, Skybox marketing intentionally encourages consumers to embrace sport-to-beverage associations. This is why Maytag promotes the fact that consumers can replace the default "Skybox" front and side panels with sporting team logo-emblazed panels (available from Maytag for around $40). Besides the association, the Skybox marketing provides additional emotional benefits...

From the Amazon.com description line (early 2004): "The SkyBox by Maytag brings the concession stand right to the living room, so you can savor the excitement of punching a soda machine without having to feed it coins or dollar bills."

I was embarrassed that one could market that people "savor the excitement of punching a soda machine."
Since when have concession stands had coin (or bill) operation? Perhaps Maytag realizes that stating "brings the vending machine area into your living room" shows consumers how shallow this marketing really is.

Emotional delivery- It is interesting to recognize that the act of purchasing a soda may be more reinforcing than the soda itself. This product has also been marketed by "ka-thunk" sound (trademarked by Maytag) that the beverage makes when it is dispensed. This emotional feedback is reminiscent of a slot machine. It is not the cash jackpot that is necessarily reinforcing. Rather, it is the process of getting to the reward.

Other thoughts:

Skybox is marketed toward sports fans and has not been marketed to more straightforward audiences like avid soda drinkers. This is evident by the fact that there are no "Coke" or "Pepsi" customized sides, but you can get quite a few sports franchises.
The Skybox is the first kitchen appliance that I have seen that is not marketed for the kitchen. That is why it looks nothing like a traditional refrigerator--I think is looks more like a television stand. In some ways it is sad to think that the purchase of this product may devalue the family kitchen as a meeting place. It may sound like a minor issue for families to be forced to get beverages from the same place, but for some families it may a useful (albeit forced) "game day" social interaction.

Note (added 4/29/04): This article was meant to be a fun social commentary and nothing more. However, this article was highly ranked on Google (and getting many visitors) but it was also unrepresentative of the site as a whole. Thus, I edited this article from its previous form so that people who enter the CHILabs.com site from this article will have a reasonable expectation as to the content and style of the other articles.

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