It’s Like 5 Pounds Of Excrement In A Ten-Pound Bag

There’s an old expression, forgive me if I paraphrase here—“it’s like 10 pounds of shit in a 5-pound bag” (I used a synonym in the title).  It is typically an expression used to describe the lack of understanding of weight and volume, although it is oftentimes used to describe a situation of mismatch or total lack of understanding of an outcome or circumstances and lastly, it can be used to describe how you feel (all of which applies here).  The magnificent minds of those marketing wizards in the good ole U.S. of A are doing their best to redefine this saying.

For example, I recently purchased a box of antacids from my favorite discount store (ole Grumpy just can’t eat the foods that he used to eat in his youth), The box the meds came in is approximately 5 inches long by 1 inch deep.  The total contents of the box are labeled as 24 pills.  Now, I am guessing that since the box is that big then surely there are 2 small pill bottles, probably with 12 each contained within, right?  Wrong!  When you open the box, you discover that there is only one small bottle containing all 24 pills enclosed in a space about 1.5 inches in diameter.  In the remaining 3.5 inches of the box is a tightly folded piece of paper that has more words on it than the novel “Gone with the Wind”, all of which can only be read with a magnifying glass.

The disclaimer sheet of paper only measures approximately 2 inches in length and ¾ of an inch wide (folded) and requires 3.5 inches to house it.  I realize that disclaimer messages are critical to the legal survival of our beloved corporations but seriously, it needs to have its own compartment that takes up more room than the pills.  Why do I bring all of this up?  Simple really, look at the tremendous waste of paper product that was used to package something that could have been put in a box with less than half of the materials used.  We are drowning in our own waste and garbage yet those wonderous marketing gurus and their greedy ass corporate masters continue to strive for the most appealing packaging in order to sell, sell, sell!

Numerous products that adorn your shelves today are packaged in an excessive amount of paper or plastic, most of which can not be recycled.  You have to ask yourself, is all of this really necessary?  I have read reports that have told of some product development examples where the packaging cost as much if not more than the content (I wrote about this previously).  The idea is to make a package appealing, eye-popping, even sexy, it will just jump right off of the shelve!  We can’t come up with packaging that will break down easily, oh no, we prefer to have it flying around our world like a stringless kite long after its contents have been removed and used.

You come to realize that when much of a products development cost is focused on packaging, there is something fundamentally wrong with our buying habits.  Forget about whether or not a product really works or meets your needs or desire, just focus on the pretty package that it comes in.  As it mesmerizes you to the point where you actually forget why you are buying it in the first place, you simply have to have it because it has sex appeal.

It just continually amazes me that we are aware of our waste issues, yet we do not develop better programs to reign them in.  I try to recycle and am always looking for products with minimal packaging in an effort to stop this mess.  But lately, I feel like I am failing to do my part.

Talk to Ya Later

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