Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Now with more quality!

Have you ever seen a product in a store that advertises when it's changed its packaging (usually with the words "New Look!" somewhere on it)? Or a commercial that says something like, "New look, same great taste!"

Well, here's what I think of that:

There are probably two kinds of people in the world: those who care that the stripe on the Doritos bag is now more horizontal than before, and those who don't.

The first group (those who care) doesn't need to be informed that the font in which "Lunchables" is written is now even zanier, because they already saw it. As they reached toward the shelf at Food 4 Less, they paused as their eyes beheld something strange, yet somehow familiar.

"It looks like the Suave brand shampoo I normally purchase, yet the bottle is a slightly lighter shade of blue!" they thought to themselves, excitement building. (I admit, I don't actually know anyone like this, but that's not going to stop me from proclaiming that such people exist.)

Meanwhile, the second group (those who don't care) doesn't need to be informed because they don't care.

It reminds me of something my dad once said. At breakfast one day, he spotted a box of Lucky Charms, which purported to have a New and Improved Taste! "You know," Dad said, "they've improved the taste of this so many times that when I was eating it as a kid it must have been made of sawdust." And Dad knows a thing or two about sawdust.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Interesting thoughts. But there's the third group of people who the phrase "new look" is actually for--stupid people.

They walk down the isle at food 4 less and think, "I don't see the packaging I normally look for!! I guess I'll have to get this other brand instea--Oh wait! There it is with a shiny New Look! I never would have known it was the same product if they hadn't put that big "new look" font on the bottle/bag/lunchables."