LUNA Bars are for Ladies (not Gents?)

            “LUNA bars? I’m not eating those. They’re for women.”

            “Dude, you’re missing out. I eat them. I don’t know why they say they’re for girls cuz they’re really good.”

My favorite LUNA bar: "Nutz Over Chocolate"

            Are LUNA bars just for women? Is there such thing as food for one gender? After hearing this conversation transpire during my PWR class last week and after talking about feminine and masculine tastes in our last class, my interest was piqued. I decided it might be interesting to take a look at LUNA bars, some of my favorite snacks to go, and see what all the fuss was about.

            From a cursory glance, LUNA bars don’t seem that different from other nutrition snacks such as Clif bars, which are actually made by the same company. They’re both in the same aisle of the grocery store, marketed as some kind of nutrition or energy bar, and cost more than other similarly displayed items. However, upon closer examination of the packages, it becomes clear that LUNA bars and Clif bars are definitely catering to different audiences.

            With one look at the front of the LUNA bar package, it is immediately obvious that these snacks are catering to the female demographic. Even the name LUNA itself connotes images of the moon, often depicted as a female symbol in literature or connected with the ancient goddess Diana.  In addition, underneath the flavor title, “Nutz Over Chocolate” or “Chocolate Dipped Coconut” is written “The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women”. These are not made for men.

I found it very interesting that other than describing LUNA bars as having the “flavors we love,” the flavor titles were the only real descriptors of taste on the whole package. Even these few words, however, show a bias towards a feminine audience, with the word “dipped” describing a slightly dainty, genteel action and the “Nutz Over Chocolate” referencing the often-stereotyped love of chocolate by women. If that’s not convincing enough, the front also contains images of undeniably female figures, doing some sort of dance activity.

            Turning the bar over, the back is still definitely female oriented. With little notes from various women to other women who inspire them (“to my grandmommy”, “to my nieces”), the LUNA marketers ensure that people know that these are bars made by women for women. The back is especially interesting, because the words they use to describe the bars are again not related to taste or texture, but rather to the spiritual and visceral experience of eating. “Food feeds our souls, lifts our spirits, nourishes and sustains us” write “The Women of LUNA”. It’s as if they are emphasizing a special relationship women have with food that is more than just putting food in your mouth and swallowing. Rather, women savor the experience and enjoy each bite. The makers seem to be saying that for women, food is very much tied to emotions.

            When actually taking a bite out of the LUNA bars, I found it hard to separate the marketing from my actual sensory experiences to test whether LUNA bars do in fact taste like they’re for women. They certainly smell sweet and nutty, slightly smoky in the sense that there is substance to them. After biting into the “Nutz Over Chocolate” LUNA bar, it was definitely sweeter than other Clif bars I’ve tasted, which I suppose is more of a female characteristic. However, on the whole it didn’t taste particularly feminine to me, although I surely am not an unbiased or ideal subject, being a daily consumer of LUNA bars here in college.

            It certainly made me think, however, and in the future, I think it would be interesting to have someone who has never tasted a LUNA bar or a Clif bar try both and see whether they sense anything particularly feminine or masculine about either. For now, however, I must side with my classmate Marshall—while they may be marketed towards women, LUNA bars are certainly something nobody should miss out on.