* * * * *
                                        
                               Beating the Brand
                                        
A while ago (has it already been a month since I first saved the link?)
theferrett [1] ranted about packaging:

> And what do I get?
> 
> A bag. Inside the bag is a big, heavy plastic container for each of my
> foodstuffs. And a cardboard box. When I get home after a five-minute walk,
> I unpack almost an armful of carrying cases for food that, once shucked
> away from the food itself, takes up a quarter of the trashcan. It's big,
> completely sealed material for a product that has no sauces or sloppy bits—
> an Iron Man armor for a dry chicken wrap.
> 
> I didn't want that. I would have been just as happy with biodegradable
> cardboard or wax paper. Or even regular paper, for some of it. But no, the
> food I have is so heavily armored, as though it were going for a ride all
> the way to the fucking Andes, as opposed to sometimes a ten-foot walk to
> the other side of the room.
> 
> I feel awful. It's gratuitous waste, designed for the convenience of
> American customers, and in this day and age of decreasing oil supplies, I'd
> be happy to have a slightly greasier carrying experience (so long as the
> bag didn't break) in exchange for not loading the landfills with an
> additional quarter-pound of garbage. And I think about the other thousands
> of meals being served in Rocky River alone, and I wonder how many of these
> take-out meals are going anywhere beyond, say, into the passenger seat of a
> car and onto a table. Do we need all this?
> 

“theferrett: Wastelands [2]”

And I couldn't help but think about Mike Täht's [3] rant about branding [4]
and reaction to it [5].

I suspect most companies overpackage because of branding issues. Really, what
exactly is the difference between the dark sugar water known as Coke [6] and
the dark sugar water known as Pepsi [7]? [1] [8] One is just as good as the
other, right? [2] [9]

But perhaps a backlash is forming—an English documentary “Packaging is
Rubbish” (part 1 [10] part 2 [11] part 3 [12]) is a look at a movement
towards eliminating excess packaging (in fact, Lush [13], a cosmetics company
in England, has done away with packaging and is attempting to encourage other
companies to do the same).

[  1] Well, for one thing, Coke has a more citrusy, less sweet flavor which I
     find more refreshing than the cloyingly sweet Pepsi—and yes, I have
     taken the Pepsi Challenge [14]. To me, Pepsi is eeeeeeeeeevil. But I
     digress … [back] [15]
[  2] Hell no! Coke is way better than that hellish swill known as Pepsi.
     [back] [16]

[1] http://theferrett.livejournal.com/
[2] http://theferrett.livejournal.com/1103938.html
[3] http://the-/
[4] http://the-/
[5] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2003/06/10.1
[6] http://www.coca-cola.com/
[7] http://www.pepsi.com/
[8] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2008/06/28.1
[9] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2008/06/28.1
[10] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5LOHSTcuwI
[11] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6iUxD1SPUs
[12] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKxlsTUek1g
[13] http://www.lush.co.uk/
[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi_Challenge
[15] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2008/06/28.1
[16] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2008/06/28.1

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

.