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Way to kill the dream, Nestle.
Jan. 5th, 2006 01:12 pmDo you eat the red ones last?
That was the question of my childhood, and it had nothing to do with Communism. It had to do with paper packets of candy-coated chocolates which were meant to be, designed to be sorted by color. No, I didn't eat the red ones last; I actually always ate the purple ones last--it would go brown, orange, red, yellow, green, pink, blue, then finally purple, because I liked purple better than pink, and it wasn't one of the colors found in the ubiquitious M&Ms.
But the spirit of the question was upheld. It wasn't asking you to simply eat the red ones last, but calling for a general level of chromatic attention and appreciation.
And now I find, in a heart-breaking spurt of marketing, Nestle has put on the shelves "Red Ones Last" Smarties, a package of entirely red Smarties. Playing on the celebrity of that question, the company has destroyed the metaphorical power of the idea--they have taken from their consumers the choice, the ability to interpret "red" as more than a single color, but as their freedom to represent individual discernment by saving any of the eight hues to be admired before final consumption.
Why?
The I find this and lose all my childhood illusions in regards to this candy. It's a sad day.
That was the question of my childhood, and it had nothing to do with Communism. It had to do with paper packets of candy-coated chocolates which were meant to be, designed to be sorted by color. No, I didn't eat the red ones last; I actually always ate the purple ones last--it would go brown, orange, red, yellow, green, pink, blue, then finally purple, because I liked purple better than pink, and it wasn't one of the colors found in the ubiquitious M&Ms.
But the spirit of the question was upheld. It wasn't asking you to simply eat the red ones last, but calling for a general level of chromatic attention and appreciation.
And now I find, in a heart-breaking spurt of marketing, Nestle has put on the shelves "Red Ones Last" Smarties, a package of entirely red Smarties. Playing on the celebrity of that question, the company has destroyed the metaphorical power of the idea--they have taken from their consumers the choice, the ability to interpret "red" as more than a single color, but as their freedom to represent individual discernment by saving any of the eight hues to be admired before final consumption.
Why?
The I find this and lose all my childhood illusions in regards to this candy. It's a sad day.
