Just like to point out something wrong with the world

[SmoothedShredder]

So I buy to Microsoft Office upgrade today. And It comes in this paper box... inside a big plastic secuity box, and when I open it up, all neatly tucked in is a DVD box... nothing else, not even a peice of paper with distributers numbers or anything. Now I'm not rocket scientist, but is this really really nescecarry. I understand one plastic box isn't going to fill the oil reserves back up, but geez, 8oz of extra plastic and a toxic wax box all for a DVD case... am I the only one who thinks this is wrong. For crying outloud, they are a computer company, can't we just download the software, and keep the delivery trucks off the road all together... I mean if it's going to start anywhere useful (in this context) it'll be with Microsoft... anywho... just re-enforces my theory that we've jumped off the preverbal cliff in our Global Bus, and there's still a bunch of idiots out there ramming the gas to the floor screaming "FAster! Faster!". Damn acceleration addicts.

Have a cup of coffee and catch your breath...

~W

Thanks for letting me vent.

~W

[PalacePrincess]

send a letter to microsoft stating so

no point wasting a good vent here

i mean, of course, vent here all you like but it at least make it in addition to telling them too

[TomFoolery]

Send an email - save a tree!

Seriously, I agree. I get pi$$ed about this sort of thing on an hourly basis.

Give'er.

[PalacePrincess]

i want to add a few of these :) to clarify that i didn't mean that in a bitchy way at all. venting is great and i actually like reading rants, especially if they involve real-life action.

you should seriously email or a send letter, though. places like that are all about raping you for all you're worth, and if they think enough people are pissed with their packaging they won't buy their software, they may do something about it.

[secondtube]

after taking a basic college marketing class, i now understand how much crap goes into packaging.

trust me, your words will definately fall on def ears. Millions went into designing that box. The size, shape, colour, and layout.

a little sleave, although would certainly work, wouldn't catch the attention of the market.

(but your right, just one of the many things big corporations do to screw the world)

[timouse]

after taking a basic college marketing class, i now understand how much crap goes into packaging.

trust me, your words will definately fall on def ears. Millions went into designing that box. The size, shape, colour, and layout.

a little sleave, although would certainly work, wouldn't catch the attention of the market.

(but your right, just one of the many things big corporations do to screw the world)

there's a whole sector of the economy who are busily making us want stuff by affecting size/shape/coulour/placement of packaging.

i'd like to round them all up and have them pick up litter full time

[secondtube]

dont forget mood, lighting, music, temperature, and oxygen levels.

all are modified to 'perfect buying conditions' ...

seriously.

[ollie]

just re-enforces my theory that we've jumped off the preverbal cliff in our Global Bus, and there's still a bunch of idiots out there ramming the gas to the floor screaming "FAster! Faster!".

That's my theory too.

[Calamity Jane]

good rant ss -- I like your analogy of the bus and i agree entirely that the nutbars are in charge. We still do need to try to wrest the brakes and steering-wheel back, though!

okay secondtube "and oxygen levels. all are modified to 'perfect buying conditions' ..."

this is seriously fucked if it's what I imagine it to be....makes me want to bury my head in the sand because I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to say, but go ahead and enlighten me. (i'll just make sure I have a good strong drink in hand when I read your response)

[secondtube]

well, much like at Casino's, most big box stores pump oxygen into the air, to keep you awake.

big amounts of money have been spent on the science of 'perfect buying conditions'.

the results are used by all major retailers. Walmart is usually the leader.

Music is also heavily tested to determine the best buying moods.

[SaggyBalls]

you can't forget about scent-based consumer conditioning. places of commerce smell different - sometimes makes me sick but mallrats get conditioned to like perfumes and spray scents.

keep on shopping...

[Kaidy Mae]

Lighting also plays a large roll in how much a consumer will purchase. During the "brown-outs" in California a few years back, stores had to dim the lights by about 1/3. Bright overhead lights trigger last minute impulse buying, so the darkness greatly reduced the amount of spending. The Target near my house recorded a 20% drop in sales. Pretty significant. They blamed it on the lack of lighting. I seem to think that perhaps some people's brains lit up and they realized it made more sense to spend time in the warm, California sun than it did to wander around a dark store buying more shit that no one needs. Bah!

Hop on the letter writing bandwagon William. Sure, it probably won't make much difference. But if we don't try to change the world, we have no right to bitch when it continues to spin out of control.

[ollie]

Lighting also plays a large roll in how much a consumer will purchase.

Why is it that restaurants dim the lights every couple of hours? I've heard it stated several times that this is an old restaurant trick but I fail to see the benefit. If anything it's a signal that it's time to go. Now I guess that would make sense in a restaurant that wants to turn over as many tables as possible but I've also experienced it in those "you're gonna be here a long time" fine dining establishments. God do I ever hate this practice. Leave the fucking lights on!!

[AdamH]

Since I'm a marketing grad and work mostly in that field, I'd like to ask if it's the techniques that concern you, or the organizations that are using these techniques?

Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, Bridgehead or the Big Carrot are all employing the same techniques that stoke purchase behaviour, and encourage impulse buys. Every store features a front of house display that does the same thing. whether its a carob bar or a bag of twizzlers. Every store highlights "Sale" items at the ends of aisles to catch your attention. Usually these items aren't acutally for sale, or if there's a discount built into it the store is not losing profit in marking it down...their supplier has already knocked it off the cost so that the profit remains the same. All stores are brightly lit, employ warm colours, and feature as much glass and plexiglass fronting to give you access to the products you want...if you have to ask someone to get it for you, most likely you won't pick it up.

[TomFoolery]

Marketers, I'm convinced, should be the first ones against the wall when the sh!t hits the fan.

I've done a lot of reading through studies and personal interest concerning the techniques of marketing. It really is an absolutely atrocious field and tends to attract the worst variety of bottom-feeders.

I'm sure there are marketers out their with a shred of decency. However, they're a rare breed.

Every time I get pissed about marketing I dredge up memories of that scene in "the Corporation" where the marketing exec is talking about getting to children while they're still forming their life long preferences and values. She does it totally straight faced and doesn't even recognize the disgust that this will evoke in most normal people...

Anyone who can make a goal of altering the mental state of children for the sole purpose of personal/corporate gain is not human.

[timouse]

Marketers, I'm convinced, should be the first ones against the wall when the sh!t hits the fan.

I've done a lot of reading through studies and personal interest concerning the techniques of marketing. It really is an absolutely atrocious field and tends to attract the worst variety of bottom-feeders.

I'm sure there are marketers out their with a shred of decency. However, they're a rare breed.

Every time I get pissed about marketing I dredge up memories of that scene in "the Corporation" where the marketing exec is talking about getting to children while they're still forming their life long preferences and values. She does it totally straight faced and doesn't even recognize the disgust that this will evoke in most normal people...

Anyone who can make a goal of altering the mental state of children for the sole purpose of personal/corporate gain is not human.

what he said.

niffermouse and i bought the corporation on DVD, it should come witha dozen foam bricks that you can hurl at your TV. that childerns' marketer was truly evil. nag factor my ass.

[secondtube]

my first semester, in my insurance program, was a common one taken by all first year business students.

one of the classes was marketing. you wouldn't believe the crap the teacher showed us...I did really well in the class. It was actually my highest mark.

But when asked why i wasn't going into marketing, basically what was said above were the reasons i gave.

Of course, insurance isn't any better.

[SevenSeasJim]

Lighting also plays a large roll in how much a consumer will purchase.

I hate how hot those lights are. It pisses me off so much that I say "Fuck It" and piss on their fake plants and leave the store without buying anything.

[Kaidy Mae]

Anyone who can make a goal of altering the mental state of children for the sole purpose of personal/corporate gain is not human.

I think it was in the book No Logo by Naomi Klein that I read that 1/4 of all children's first words will be a brand name. Not only is it scary that corporations (helllllo McDonalds!) target such impressionable young minds, but that they do it so incredibley well. I think I would be devastated if my child's first word was "Nike", and not "Mommy". It'll be interesting to see what kind of permanent effect this will have on future generations.

[SmoothedShredder]

Glad to see I'm not alone! Thx Guys and Dolls.

~W

[AdamH]

I think everyone would agree with your original post about excess packaging, and with Tube's comments about the sheer cost of producing what looks like a benign coloured cardboard sleeve. A typical DVD movie is just shrink-wrapped, sometimes even marked with only a price sticker. Of course movies sell themselves a whole lot more than an MS Office Upgrade. Anyway, point well taken and PP is right that you should contact their Public Relations department and complain.

I'm still hoping a few people could answer my question though:

I'd like to ask if it's the techniques that concern you, or the organizations that are using these techniques?

[ollie]

I'd like to ask if it's the techniques that concern you, or the organizations that are using these techniques?

For me it's the techniques. I don't like coercion of any sort, even if it's for something I would be naturally inclined to be coerced towards.

[SmoothedShredder]

I suppose it's a little bit of both... because ultimately it's the organizations who choose to use these techniques. And I can't really exclude my own human weakness, becasue I made a choice to buy this product... but I never said I was perfect. Then again I wasn't the marketing genius who came up with, or supported the idea of using ridiculous amounts of packaging. Besides the product inside the box is more ok then anything else I've used, and I've always thought that word of mouth was the best advertizing. That probably doesn't answer your question, but I don't feel very poetic today.

~W

[TomFoolery]

Polkaroo,

I would say its not a question of one or the other. Many techniques, tools, and ideas can be both beneficial and harmful.

Chest compressions are the only way to get a full cardiac arrest victim back to life. They could kill someone with a beating heart.

Enhanced oxygen can help people concentrate on important tasks, and perform better at any number of difficult tasks. It can also be used secretively for less positive results (as above).

Children have minds like sponges. It would be a shame not to impart information and knowledge to them when they are so capable of absorbing it all. We just have a responsibility to them to do so honestly and to be open about what it is that they are absorbing.

There is no black and white on this...

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I'd like to ask if it's the techniques that concern you, or the organizations that are using these techniques?

For me, both, but at root, it comes down to the techniques. We're such a pathetic species in how we let ourselves manipulate one another for short-term gain.

Some day I'd love to get my hands on some of the handbooks used by 19th-century Methodist circuit-riders (tent evangelists); they had honed crowd manipulation to a fine edge, and very self-consciously, too (and left a rich legacy for everyone who would follow them, from Billy Sunday to Benny Hinn). It still boils down to a form of coercion which lets those in the know know how most efficiently to enrich themselves, with goods, money, or followers. Everybody's humanity, arguably, suffers for it.