klorp
Explanation
The Joke
At the headquarters of "KlorpCo," an executive announces that they need to find a way to charge 50% more per klorp (a fictional product). One employee suggests they could improve the product. Another employee responds with a drawn-out "Orrrr..." implying they have a different, easier idea. The final panel, captioned "Soon...," shows the shelves stocked with "NEW! Klorp for Women" — the exact same product, just rebranded and marketed specifically toward women at a higher price.
The Humor
The comic satirizes the well-documented phenomenon known as the "pink tax," where products marketed toward women are often identical to their gender-neutral or male-marketed counterparts but sold at a higher price. Instead of actually improving their product to justify a price increase, the company takes the lazy and cynical route of simply slapping a "for women" label on the same item and charging more. The joke is sharpened by using a completely made-up product (a "klorp") to highlight how absurd and transparent this practice is — the audience has no idea what a klorp even is, yet the gendered marketing strategy still works. The employee who suggests actually improving the product is immediately overruled, underscoring that companies often prefer the path of least effort over genuine innovation.
References
The "pink tax" refers to the tendency for products marketed to women — razors, shampoo, deodorant, and many other consumer goods — to cost more than virtually identical products marketed to men. A 2015 study by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs found that, on average, products marketed to women cost 7% more than comparable products for men. This comic was published in January 2018, during a period of growing public awareness and criticism of this pricing practice.