As a female graphic designer, marketer AND pinball enthusiast, first Vid is not wrong that there are certain preferences that trend along gender lines. My masters degree was focused on shopper motivations, so I’ve done tons of research, and I see it in my own life. I tend to like a lot of male-oriented pursuits (pinball! bowling!), but I still LOVE bright colors, sparkly stuff, and humor that isn’t just about women being sex objects. Of current themes I love the graphics on Aerosmith and GoTG, and I generally gravitate more towards themes that are brighter and more fun.
Now to the question at hand, I think the problem is that there are multiple objectives being tossed around—are we talking about what themes would get non-pinball playing women to give pinball a chance? Or are we talking about what themes would attract a higher percentage of female buyers? Or are we talking about what themes would get a higher percentage of new female purchasers?
I’m going to go with the first objective, because if you succeed with that, you’ll organically grow the other two metrics. I think the Golden Girls theme is a no-brainer there, or potentially Friends as a surprise sort of theme. Beyoncé or Lady Gaga would also connect with an interesting market segment, and of course Adventure Time has a lot of cross segment appeal. The Muppets or MLP are also really popular, but there’s also room for something completely absurd and cheap—a few years ago I came across a slot machine that was basically ridiculous pictures of cats. I played it the entire time I was at that casino bc it made me laugh.
Of course, I understand all of the technical and economic factors involved, so I’m not suggesting that any of these themes are financially viable alternatives to the current themes in production. But if anyone wants to make me a lolcat themed pin, I’m ALL over it!