Abstract
This work looks at how toy brands and large retailers use gender and gender stereotypes to reach out to children in their toy catalogues. The gender differentiation introduced by the signs is based on different elements. The tool used in the first place is language and, in particular, its variations, which make it possible to attribute a toy to one or other of the two sexes. By using vocabulary belonging to specific lexical fields (sweetness and beauty for girls, action and speed for boys), signs attribute a sex to their products. This sexual assignment also involves iconic elements, including colours, photographic scenes and decor. The colours used by the signs are therefore mostly blue for boys and pink for girls, photographic scenes show children in situations corresponding to their gender in the light of the cultural history of our society (kitchen girls, boys) and the scenery elements used by the trade marks to support the pages also have a sex connotation: pink and hearts for ‘daughter’, blue and exterior scenery for ‘boys’ pages. However, the Magasins U case study showed that it is possible to target young people by using innovative methods and breaking traditional gender conventions: mixed colours, girls and boys playing in an indiscriminate manner with any kind of toys or neutral graphic elements.