Beer and Condoms

During my many years of working in business communications, I learned a lot about the psychology of visual merchandising.  The art of luring customers to your display then getting them to part with their cash to buy something they may need, want or just simply can’t resist.  Today, as a customer, I often find these displays mildly amusing but mostly irritating as they are often located right in the middle of aisle blocking your path.

Recently, I went on a fishing trip with my son to the Gulf of Mexico to try our luck at some of the local catch.  Of course, you must buy a fishing license and there are always things that you forgot to bring or suddenly decide are necessary for your trip.  So, this requires a stop at a sell-all discount store.  Well, we were in luck as this little town in the deep south had my favorite store (you know, “the everyday low prices store”).  As we entered the main entrance my eyes were quickly caught by a large display in the center aisle.

The display had three shelves, the two outside shelves that contained 30 packs of a popular light beer, the middle shelf had boxes of a famous brand of condoms—I kid you not!  I must admit the display had very attractive lines, the 30 packs of beer nicely accented the open boxes of condoms.  The colors nicely contrasted each other as well with the beer boxes being a fairly bland color white while the bad news prevention devices were in very wild colors.  The display was very symmetrical in its arrangement with dimensions being equal on all sides.

Here is the part of this that I am trying to figure out, what is the message in this visual merchandising effort?  Is it an effort to educate young folks that drinking beer always requires that you should have condoms on hand (funny play on words, right?)?  Maybe it goes back to the advertising slogan of “hey, the night is young”, or “it’s time”.  Maybe it is like buying a drill, you have to have the bits or what’s a hammer without nails?  Or maybe it is just–be careful when you get hammered.

This particular effort at visual merchandising leaves you wondering; are we telling guys that she will look good after drinking our beer or telling the gals he will look good after drinking our beer?   In either event, after several years of life experience, I believe there is a product symbiosis here.  However, this is a very strange cross-marketing effort that I am sure has pissed off several special interest groups demanding an explanation.

And what of the “everyday low prices” store who proudly boasts its religious foundation and principles?  Are we promoting casual sex?  Let’s face the facts here; two young partiers come into the store and buy two thirty packs of beer and after they consume the beverage, we are all going to get laid.  So, we are discarding some of the fundamental beliefs in scripture, “drink not strong drink thee” or “do not have sex without marriage” (not a biblical scholar so obviously paraphrasing here).

I have to admit that this display not only left me laughing out loud but also wondering what kind of marketing geniuses came up with this plan—the guys from “Hangover” or Stiffler from “American Pie”?  It is amazing, even on the road, I find funny customer shit!

Talk To Ya Later

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