Del Monte announced last week that it is to give its bananas a second skin, by packaging them individually in petrol stations and convenience stores, and marketing them as a "natural energy snack on the go."
This ridiculous attempt to manipulate consumers was covered in some detail by Mark Earls over a decade ago in his book Welcome To The Creative Age.
Mark was deeply shocked by the 'added-value banana' he found in a petrol station in 2000, which was described as a "fresh banana snack" and positioned as "fruit on the move." He railed against this patronizing attempt to control what he already knew - that a banana is clearly pre-wrapped by nature, that it is nutritious, and that it can be eaten on the go.
We know all this, and don't need marketing to add anything more. But after another ten years of analysis by the world's biggest fruit producer, apparently we do.
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