Tuesday, July 04, 2006

put the clingwrap down and step away


This is a banana from my local coffee shop. I find it enormously poignant that they wrap bananas up in cellophane. It's not a country wide craze, just my poshy coffee shop. I find it poignant, as i struggle with the three yards of transparency they bind it with, because it's entirely unnecessary as bananas come with their own coat. It's also environmentally unfriendly reflecting, in its own microsopic way, the horrors of Chinese industrial pollution and waste. But its also because I think this is meant to be added value, a guarantee of pristine quality. To be fair, polluted and dirty food is an issue in China, but again, bananas aren't really the thing to be worrying about. It's quite touching really, going to that effort but it is so unnecessary. Reminds me of too many brands' added value programs - well meaning but just generating more rubbish.

2 comments:

80meals said...

I really enjoyed reading your blog! The shrink wrapped banana and the bar code design are my favorites. Plus I like your dry sense of humour, though I don't share your passion for revitalizing the cruise ship industry...;)
Jenny

i see what you mean said...

thank you! that is very good of you Jenny, though you must have a heart of stone not to care about the cruise industry. and that's making me rethink my new planned feature: 'saving out of fashion pastimes', i was considering covering macrame, playing the recorder, morris dancing and ventriloquism for my next topics but you've made me doubt myself.