Too much variety makes us overeat. In one experiment, snackers were given bowls of M&Ms with either seven colors or 10 colors. Snackers with 10 color options ate an average of 43 more candies than those with just seven colors to choose from.
WSJ - Jan-12th, 2007
PepsiCo Inc. is launching a series of designs, to debut every three or four weeks - a marketing shift that the company hopes will grab the attention of increasingly fickle, restless and distracted young consumers.
Annual sales of Pepsi's flagship cola in the U.S. have declined 18% since 1998. Still, the average person spends 20 to 30 minutes drinking a can of soda, giving Pepsi much longer to catch a consumer's eye than a cereal-box label might have.
The can-design changes are the latest sign of how established consumer companies are wrestling to connect with the short attention spans of teens and young adults.Valerie-said: The more color-options in M&M, the more candies you eat - Now, Pepsi wants customers to drink more cola with more can designs.
The rich or the poor - what we eat, drink or wear can be the same if we skip the brand, the design and those interesting emotion factors that make people feel better, cooler or more important. Our inner self is always looking for an outlet of self-expression. We want people to know who we are, what we like and how we see ourselves in any form of media, including a can of Pepsi or the choice of your M&M color. While we were taught not to judge a person from the appearance, but aren't we meanwhile asking to be treated differently by how we look and what we eat, drink or use? No definite answer but I wonder living in a world where everyone looks the same and has only one option for each need to sustain our life - the only difference that tells us apart is the soul and the way of thinking. How much fun will we lose? Or gain?
1 comment:
Wow, this is really interesting. I always feel a tension between the two ideas you're writing about. On one hand, I think marketing and visual design are the superficial luxuries of rich societies--a tragic waste of time, energy, and most of all, money. So many communites around the world are DYING for lack of clean water. Shouldn't societies that are preoccupied with whether Pepsi comes in a can with letters vs. circles be a little more responsible and turn their attention to helping people who can't even FATHOM having a choice like this?
On the other hand, I'm a graphic designer. My income is based on society's obsession with appearance. I am contributing to the mania. And I guiltily admit that I DO LOVE having choices. I love good design, and variety, and self-expression, and individuality. I love cool pop cans and colored M&Ms. Especially the pink Valentine's Day ones. And Kleenex boxes with fancy prints, and dish soap that comes in sleek curvy bottles. But I feel guilty for loving it all. What to do?
P.S. I think you should write all of your posts in two languages, so that your fickle readers will have an option that suits them. :)
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