Friday in the Harris Teeter

I just got our of the grocery and snapped a couple of iPhone photos. 

I was going to pick up a 6 pack of Spaten but I noticed the price went up by a dollar (it's been $6.99 for like at least a year.) Anyways, the geniuses in the marketing department wanted to raise the price but make it look like they were lowering it so they did this. Good thing I'm so stingy. Otherwise, I might have fallen for it. 

Then there was this. I'm having a hard time figuring out how the good folks at Kraft figured out that people want to buy frozen pizza and frozen cookies in the same box. I guess people like doughy baked things. Maybe when the two are packaged together people feel less guilty about eating frozen pizza and then moving right onto cookies. These people also brought you the Marlboro Red. Just sayin'

Why does deodorant have to be so corny?

I just ran out of deodorant the other day and buying a new stick is a bigger decision than you would think. They make these sticks so big that I think I only need a new one like every 10 months. With that said, it's a small purchase that you make every 10 months but it sticks with you, literally, everyday. Obviously branding is important here. But what about guys like me that are a little turned off by trying too hard to be masculine in everything I buy and do.

To be honest, it's hard. Deodorant packaging and branding is god-awful. It's all got to be uber-manly so much so that I'm hesitant to be seen in the checkout line with some of these brands. Cases in point

Speed stick used to be my go to brand. The regular scent. My dad wears it and I always used it until I noticed they put grips on the edges. Grips? Why do I need grips on my deodorant stick? My life is so action packed that I put my deodorant on under extreme duress? Using this helps me understand what guys must feel like when they wear mandals.

Seriously Old Spice? You used the word Swagger on this label? Way to ruin a perfectly good word for everyone. It was fun to say "swag" but now it feels cheap and bought. Then it's got to be from the Red Zone Collection. Deodorant collection? Even if you hadn't just ruined the word swagger, that's just dumb.

It's the Mountain Dew meets Newport Cigarettes meets some vague aspirational feat of masculine accomplishment meets my armpits. Everest Adrenaline Series. Cool story bro.

I'll have to reach out to the brothers on what they think about deodorant called Dark Temptation. This one's not going to work for me though.

Well it could obviously be worse. I do like the 48 hour protection touch. Like maybe I'm going to get laid on a weeknight and have to roll to office the next day without a fresh coat of deodorant. Glad Dove is behind me on this one but everyone is going to notice my wrinkled clothes and look of shame.

Bring back some simple packaging

I'm getting older and need a little less flash and a little more honesty. Look, I still like Nutella and I'm still going to need Windex. Just make it a little easier on me. The folks at A2591 have worked on  a project to strip down some common labels to their bare essence. I'm posting a few down here for you. Wouldn't you feel better if the supermarket where more like this?

Thanks to The Fox is Black

Put this by the checkout,

and I don't care with the price tag is. You are telling me about hand crushed rosemary tea infusions with white chocolate and the packaged has watercolor and says "smile" at the bottom. It's going in cart. I don't even like chocolate.

via Lost in E Minor

Would you try it in this package?

I think it's pretty well established that Kimchi is a little daunting for the uninitiated but delicious for the initiated. The question remains, how does one cross over? Mother in Law Kimchi is here to help. I love the name but I love the packaging even more. Doesn't this just look safe to eat? It's almost like the yuppie salsa that Pace spent so much time warning you about some years ago. I'd try it, but I already like the stuff.

via Lost in E Minor

Collaborations gone too far?

One of the most popular ways to add an edge to your clothing line is introduce a limited run of product that was created in collaboration with another brand or an outside designer with some prestige. This can work really well and refresh the brand a bit and the results can be exciting.

Some examples that come to mind are Ransom x Adidas and Maiden Noir x Porter. Even Tim Burton x Moleskin was kind of cool. There are about a million others that have come out in the past couple of years alone.

But this trend may have gone to far with the announcement that Hanes collaborated with Stussy on some plain white t-shirts. I will tread lightly because I like that guys that run the Stussy store in DC and I have picked a couple of things there since they opened a couple of years ago. However, it's still a funny idea. Hanes makes cheap and plain t-shirts and doesn't charge much. Stussy makes cheap t-shirts with a little bit of print and charges a lot. Someone decided they were ripe for a collaboration. What is the value add? A small Stussy logo on the front and no tag on the neck. Awesome, no tag on the neck. We can only hope that these creative genius behind these brands will continue to bestow us with such innovative gems of design.

You can check for these in your local Stussy shop. Via Hypebeast.

Campari turns 150

Everyone's favorite aperitif is turning 150 this year. To commemorate Campari is rolling out some really slick limited edition labels. It sends a pretty strong message about craft and heritage when you can celebrate 150 years of excellence. I think these labels convey that for sure.

Speaking of chocolate packaging

Good lord. This is amazing. The chocolate is a hand-made by La Molina, which is an Italian company. The crafty aesthetic of these packages is pretty convincing that the product is hand-made and unique. The company's website is in both Italian and English so perhaps you can find this stateside.

Really good chocolate packaging

My sister recently bought me this bar of chocolate and wouldn't shut up about how much she loved the packaging. She was in the chocolate store and the store manager was ready to tell her all about how sustainable the product was and how the chocolate manufacturer really took care of the farmers. She didn't care though, she was just convinced that it was good by all the brown paper and the stamps. It wasn't a cheap bar of chocolate either.

It is cool packaging because it doest two things-

It makes you feel warm and fuzzy about the source of the product. It's got a photo of the head farmer and claims to be responsible in the treatment of the farmers themselves.

The combination of the brown paper and the type also make the chocolate appear to have been manufactured at the source. I'd rather eat chocolate made from a single cocoa source in West Africa than chocolate made from various cocoa sources and then shipped across the Atlantic to be manufactured.

This packaging gives me both those feelings and that is why is sells for $8 a bar.

I do think this brings up a good question. We, as progressive consumers in a wealthy society, have become aware of the huge income disparity between ourselves and the people that actually tend to the crops that produce the coffee and chocolate we enjoy. Labels like Fair Trade enhance our experience of eating the product and raise our willingness to pay. Why is it that we don't see similar packaging on other consumer goods such as apparel?

It's no secret that many consumers want to avoid buying clothing made in sweatshops. and many apparel companies have taken great strides to be more responsible in the regard. A few have even bought their own factories to ensure that working conditions are legit. Why doesn't the packaging of apparel reflect the steps that manufacturers have taken to ensure that no one was exploiting in the making of the product. I think there is a missed opportunity for companies that have taken the steps to treat the laborers in plants responsible to brag about it at the point of sale.

Produce bar coding design

I stole this from the Yanko Design blog and it's a pretty cool idea. Instead of just a normal bar code. This special bar code goes on produce and slowly fades as the product sits on the shelf and ages. It's very similar to Oral B toothbrushes or even the born on date on the bottom of Budweiser. The whole point is to give consumers an idea of how long it has been sitting around on the shelf and if it's still good or not.

I love the spirit of the idea and innovation is always cool. However, I see a couple of small problems. First off, most produce doesn't have a bar code. It has a 4 digit number that the cashier enters in by hand. I think I'd be turned off if my produce suddenly had a bar code, let along some high-tech bar code. The other thing is that it's pretty easy to tell if cabbage is still good or not. I, for one, enjoy shopping for produce because you actually get to use your senses when selecting products. This bar code wouldn't do anything to enhance that experience.

Still though. I'm not mad at innovation and new ideas. Please check out the Yanko Design blog to read the full story.

More eco-packaging

I recently came across Ecologic Brands which makes eco-friendly consumer packaging. On display here is an ingenious milk package that is partially made of recycled materials, partially compostable, partially recyclable and uses much less material than the average milk container.


Adoption of the product appears to be limited at the moment but I expect that to change with the quickness. It's my understanding that supply for organic milk will catch up with the boom in demand as dairies adjust. At this point organic milk distributors will be seeking an additional point of differentiation because just being organic won't be enough.

That is why this packaging is the future. It is a great fit with the organic milk market. It gives consumers an opportunity to be less wasteful, which is what most people really want. Hopefully, it can achieve good economies of scale.

Please check out Ecologic Brands website and Twitter feed.

Real DJs Buy Two

Again, I'm no Ansel Adams but I wanted to touch on what I think is one of the more ingenious p.o.s. elements to date.

Baltimore Breakbeat Records was a label that put out Baltimore Club music and held a considerable amount of street credibility in the Mid-Atlantic region. What better to leverage your street credibility than to tell your consumers to buy two of what you are selling in order to be real? Thus, "Real DJ's Buy Two." A ring around the label reminded consumers that they need two copies in order to live up to the quality of the product. This may or may not have cross over appeal. It works for vinyl records because it makes sense to have two copies (djs have two turntables after all) but maybe someone else should try this too.

What if florists had a campaign for Valentine's day that stressed that men that really loved their girlfriend/wife/whatever bought two dozen roses? Up the ante so one just isn't good enough anymore. "If you really loved her, you'd buy her two dozen."

If you really love yourself some candy, you buy two packs of Skittles. "Real Candy Aficionados Buy Two."

Challenge these consumers to get on your level.

You might think its silly but you won't be laughing when the scenester at the bike store sells you two fixed gear bikes.