SPANISH car manufacturer, Seat, has partnered with women’s magazine Cosmopolitan to launch a car they say is designed exclusively for modern women.

Seat is part of the Volkswagen Group while Cosmopolitan hails from the Hearst Magazine empire.

The initiative is part of a new kind of advertising partnership where advertisers are linking up with publishers in an editorial promotions environment to generate revenues in the face of falling pure advertising booking.

Cosmo readers were also involved in the process of creating the vehicle

According to Seat global marketing director Susanne Franz, “this new car goes beyond aesthetics, it is a functional vehicle where the design has a purpose”. She said that the car will meet women’s needs “in terms of daily usage”, that it is the brand’s “most feminine car” and that “it is a tribute to the modern woman”.

The compact four-Seater Mii by Cosmopolitan is claimed to “make driving less strenuous for women,” fitted with rear parking sensors that make it “easy to park”. Most importantly the headlights are shaped to look like they’re wearing eyeliner.

So nothing much could go wrong here then – except that very little can generate fury like a patronised woman.

Some initially thought it was a hoax.

But then social media lit up over what some are referring to as the marketing stuff up of 2016. Amongst a very brief selection:

“Were all previous cars designed for blokes?”

“Great that women can now finally drive themselves,” and “Aren’t all cars for women, or just ‘cars’ as I usually call them.”

There was media discontent too. Phoebe-Jane Boyd from The Guardian wrote, “Instead of repackaged and pinked-up cars…what women could really do with is for big businesses like Seat, and influential brands like Cosmopolitan, to fully understand and accept that we’re all individuals who can’t be bracketed into one uniform group ready to obediently buy from them.”

While according to April Siese of The Daily Dot, “A price for the car has yet to be revealed because clearly women only care about aesthetics and not practical matters like affordability”.

Hearst Magazines is reported to be increasingly exploring ways to create new revenue streams following the decline of print circulation across the magazine sector.

It has recently ramped up its focus on marketing and events. It is likely they will think twice before patronising the core customer group for one of their most prestigious titles again.

Comment by Daniel Cotterill