label design as deception

I’ve picked up Blink by Malcom Gladwell recently and found especially interesting the part where he’s talking about label design and its impact on customers. Even if those customers don’t realize it.

We tested Seven-Up. We had several versions, and what we found is that if you add fifteen percent more yellow to the green on the package—if you take this green and add more yellow—what people report is that the taste experience has a lot more lime or lemon flavor. And people were upset. ‘You are changing my Seven-Up! Don’t do a ‘New Coke’ on me.’ It’s exactly the same product, but a different set of sensations have been transferred from the bottle, which in this case isn’t necessarily a good thing.

It’s a color thing — which I should know in my line of work — and color’s a very powerful tool. But that powerful? Really? As is imagery, like the spring of parsely mentioned by Gladwell) on the Hormel logo (courtesy of Darrel Rhea and Davis Masten). And after reading “Be It Ever So Homespun, There’s Nothing Like Spin” (link) in the NYTimes, I’m beginning to wonder how many items in my life are greenwashed, or anything washed. How many things that I buy at the grocery store, purchase online, stalk in the electronic aisles, how many of these things actually do the things that I think they will?

I remember when I got my first car, I thought, “This is it. This machine is going to change my life. It’ll be a snap to have a girlfriend. I can go anywhere I want.” And while it changed my life, I had insurance to pay every month, gas to pay every week and my life wasn’t all that different — it’s not like a girl just magically showed up in the passenger seat the first time I drove it. In hindsight, that would’ve been a little scary. But I suppose that’s less to do with visual marketing and more to do with my personal expectations, but I think you know what I mean.

I know I’m not the first person to ruminate after reading some from Blink, but it is sure making me think right about now.