Distorting Reality

I went to the supermarket recently. Among many items I bought, I picked up a bottle of olive oil. It wasn't until weeks later that I noticed something quite remarkable. What I bought, what I saw on the shelf as a bottle of olive oil, was not in fact olive oil. I had been duped.

The label on the package had been designed in a way to blend the words "Italian Sunflower" into the background to make them, well, disappear. The words "Extra Virgin Olive Oil," in contrast stood out clearly from the background color. It wasn't until I looked on the back of the package that I saw the truth: "85% sunflower oil - 15% extra virgin olive oil." Only on the back of the package did they refer to their product as "Mediterranean Blend Oil." You can click on all the images below to make them bigger and see what I mean.

        

Technically, all the truthful information was on the package. But it was all presented in a way that seemed to purposefully hide the truth. The company seemed to have taken steps to make it more difficult for me to know what I was getting. This is nothing short of deception.

Why do some companies need to trick us to buy their products? Are their products that bad? Is marketing that hard or that expensive? What are they hiding or overcharging for that they feel the need to lie and deceive?

I started looking for other "technically accurate" packages. I found this one in an airport lounge. I thought I was eating parmesan asiago cheese until a closer inspection revealed I was in fact eating a "Parmesan Asiago style process cheese food" with a "parmesan & asiago-type flavor." If you look really closely at the package, you'll see that they do tell me all the facts. Look next to the word "asiago," you'll be able to see it. It's tiny and hard to read, but it's there: "style." (click on the picture to take a closer look). It's not cheese. It's something in the flavor and style of cheese.

I visited the websites for both companies to try to learn more.

The cheese one was tricky. The manufacturer, Dairyfood USA, Inc, makes no reference to their Glacier Ridge Farms brand or their parmesan & asiago-style flavor cheese food. In fact, they don't make much mention of anything.

As for the maker of the Italian sunflower oil with a hint of olive oil, the manufacturer's site makes no mention of the Pi Oli brand or their Mediterranean blend oil in their list of products.

Makes you wonder, what are they trying to hide?

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Comments

[swarovski crystal]

Wow, examples of really scummy "marketing". I think what they're trying to hide is WHY they exist.

To make money. And if all they want to do is make money, they'll do the kinds of things you might expect. Develop faux versions of real products, using substandard ingredients. Try to dupe honest people by tricky use of typography and careful reading of the FDA labeling laws, etc.

Thanks for reminder to read my labels more carefully!

[Spiderman beats]

I thought i knew a lot about this industry..

[Nike Air Max]

I very much agreeights. Hope that more could write such a good word!

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[Blaire]

Good article, I enjoyed it - you have such a keen eye! Your article actually makes me think of certain marketers fancy, snazzy, sharp subject headers to get you to open their emails - but then when you open it's the same old b.s. selling their product with no real content, just general info. If you give quality information, why the need to do sensationalist headlines so people open the emails? Personally, it turns me off from any info they may share

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[Ssspector]

my bank just provided me with the opportunity ("a special feature" - because "i deserve a break") to skip a car payment...because i am a "valued customer" i can skip a loan payment by cutting them a check for $65...of course they will amend my contract and i'll have to pay the loan for another month so they basically are trying to get another $65 out of me...i think they should begin with "why" and maybe they wouldn't have wasted the time to create, package and send such ridiculous correspondence...

[eye care]

I guess marketing is more important for some companies, they want to sell as much to have profit and they don't care about anything else. How many products write on the label what is for real, not many, not even the ingredients, they try to mask all the preservatives and chemicals and some skip to add them.

[kiralık devremülkler]

thank you. i love to read this type of information posts. again thank you...

[Pamela Vanderway]

I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, so looking at the 'oil blend' I began to wonder if this was a matter of the label's inking process not living up to the original intention. After all, the ink color of 'Sunflower' is pretty much the same as that of 'Oli' in the product's name. Perhaps the misdirect was unintentional?

Could be.

...So now I'm wondering if there are any aspects of my own business where there are unintentional misdirects. Are my clients seeing precisely what I'm seeing when I devise materials for them? Is the whole of my message getting through, or am I inadvertently creating potential for the same kind of betrayal you felt when you realized the products you were consuming were not what you assumed?

I really like this post, Simon. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while! Thank you!

[Daniel]

Apparently the Italian sunflower manufacturer's mission statement include - ethics and quality.

[Kristina]

I thought i knew a lot about this industry..turns out i had a great insight today ! Thank you! :)

[Jaime Yordan-Frau]

Agreed!

Makes me think if it would serve in the best interest of the public if there was a "Why Watch" or an organization that made sure to support those companies that are doing the right thing so that it is not as easy to take advantage of people. Maybe with something like this we can go back to growing for the right reasons and not supporting those that grow by bullying their way there.

[Aeron McKie]

The only logical reason for this tricky "marketing" is because they have a product that nobody wants or needs. If they manufacture a product that nobody wants or needs, they clearly are not making business decisions with a target market in mind.
I've heard this somewhere before: people may be buying WHAT they do, but they aren't buying WHY they do it! ;)
Thanks for sharing Simon.

[Ken Montville]

This type of labeling is only one small example. If you start to look at the nutritional labels on these products you'll see the challenge of determining how many calories or grams of fat or whatever you may be tracking.

Is serving size metric or American measurement standards? Does the package contain whole servings or "about [x] servings"? Does a package appear to be one serving but turns out to really be "about 2 servings" (http://bit.ly/hnLKCp)

It is a sad fact of life that the American food industry thrives on confusing and bamboozling the American consumer.

I am not the food police by any stretch but it would it would be nice to see some standards of measurements and some truth in labeling of ingredients.

[A Facebook User LelaRastHartsaw]

Interestingly enough, sunflower oil is supposedly just as healthful, so why would they not try to market that? Perhaps because you (the average consumer) were not shopping for sunflower oil, it's not as popular.

They just want to be picked for the kickball game! It's as age-old as grade school playground team sorting, isn't it? As my mother used to say, "They are putting on airs!" Trying to be something they're not, in order to attract favor or in this case, your money.

Wonderful thing to ponder, really, isn't it?

Thank you for bringing insight into my morning and reminding me to stay focused on the thing at hand in order to properly see it for what it is.

Now, as for whether or not it's the right practice for a company? Well, that's a whole other thing entirely: ethics.

[Markpilip.wordpress.com]

Wow, examples of really scummy "marketing". I think what they're trying to hide is WHY they exist.

To make money. And if all they want to do is make money, they'll do the kinds of things you might expect. Develop faux versions of real products, using substandard ingredients. Try to dupe honest people by tricky use of typography and careful reading of the FDA labeling laws, etc.

Thanks for reminder to read my labels more carefully!