BAITING THE HOOK: NOT-SO-HOT PRODUCTS

Have you ever noticed how good some manufacturers are at getting you to buy their products based simply on the way it looks? You pick it up, gawk at the mesmerizing graphics or the completely awesome package design, and practically end up throwing money at the cashier for some ingenious work of art that you MUST have...

Well, I have been there and done that.

Take product to the right for example.

This is ALL CITY NRG. I spotted this gem in our neighborhood Big Lots for a whopping $.80 and couldn't resist buying such a decorative beverage. Aside from the fact that the can is an outstanding example of fine graphic design at work, the first thought to enter my head was "Gosh, I bet this stuff is AWESOME!"

WRONG.

It was actually not good... At all. At least, not to me and my taste it wasn't. I ended up dumping the contents out behind the store I work at and rinsing out the can to take home and put on the shelf above my desk.

Another shining example of captivating package design is the 2005 Evian water bottle. Now I never got the chance to actually buy one of these, but I can guarantee you beyond the shadow of a doubt that I would have in a heartbeat. I mean seriously, look at how "majestic" that water bottle looks! The simplicity of it is almost offensive to those who spend forever and a day trying to come up with "the most amazing package design ever".

Instead of creating an image to apply to the container, the designer decided to make the container into the image of a mountain. While this design is extremely inconvenient for pretty much everyone, it was an effective visual aesthetic--- to the extent that it was sold to millions of people across the country, at $4 and some odd cents for 20 fl-oz of water. That's right. Water. You know, the stuff you can find in a public toilet for free. The fact that it is collected from somewhere more acceptable than a public restroom is pretty much the only difference if you really think about it... yet people are still willing to spend the money on it, and I don't doubt that it has more than its share to do with the packaging. Why not settle for a much more affordable and sensible Dasani or Aquafina?

The point that I am trying to make with these examples is that, more often than not, it really doesn't matter what's inside the package. The hook is what's on the product. Otherwise, what would the point of hiring designers to design the packaging for your products be? Sure, they count on logos and branding to help establish their reputation and make it recognizable. But I will tell you this much: I wouldn't buy either of these products more than once. I learned my lesson on the ALL CITY, and I can buy "normal" water by the case cheaper than I can a bottle of Evian. After all, it does spell Naive backwards.