`Most people go about their lives with different needs and goals. Unfortunately, I have been cursed with the unfortunate unstoppable need to find marketing mistakes. I read cereal boxes, Ikea instructions, the fine print on the 12-pack of Bounty paper towels. If it’s for sale, and it has words or images on it, I have to move in. Like the infectiously curious members of medical detector clubs, I enjoy finding spelling errors & other mistakes in massive print runs. It’s a sick hobby, I know, but the pure joy of “it wasn’t me” is a high like no other.
What keeps this odd obsession going? Because Big Foot exists. For example, allow me to share with you some real finds from known brands I cherish. I’m not sure which of these two gives me more joy. I’ll let you choose…
Bag Lifting That’s 50% Easier
This beauty came from a Rubbermade trashcan purchased from Ace Hardware in Bonita Springs, FL in 2017. The cardboard wrap over the lid very clearly wanted to explain that lifting out bags from their newly vented version was “50% Easier”. I read the small print only to find what I assume is the same message in other languages.
At first glance, “50% Easier” sounds impressive, but how is the new & improved version 50% easier? And 50% easier than what? They mention the reason is the venting channels. I had no idea such statistical problems were being managed and measured at Rubbermaid, which IMHO is the real story, but yet someone approved this and off to the printers it went. Once adorned on the trash cans in retail establishments, few customers will question the claim. I shall continue my quest like Marketing Robin Hood, revealing the confusing and bringing it to the masses.
A Jar of Sweet + Small
One of my all time favorites is the jar of Peter Piper’s Sweet Midgets. These were purchased in 2015 at a local grocery store in the US Virgin Islands, where clearly the FDA has no office. This jar does not have the word pickle or even pickled cucumber anywhere. No ingredients list. Kudos for including nutritional information, weight & size, and a star-worthy “new sweeter taste”, but yet the buyer still can not be confident what the food actually is in the containter except that the label says “Sweet Midgets”. From the image I can deduce that they are from rows on a farm, but so does nearly everything we grow, so forgive my confusion.
A quick search on Google reveals only one place (Harter House) who at one point sold a jar that looked similar, but today the “page is not found”. Is it possible a pickle producer was dumping their remaining supply of poorly marked pickles in paradise? Wouldn’t be the first time. For a few weeks, everyone’s bottle of Joy dish detergent in Coral Bay said “Not Your First Choice” proudly on the front. Disgruntled label printer? Dang, I love this stuff!
So back to the little pickles. I bravely dove into my midget container with a wing and a prayer and found myself tentatively taking a bite.
Tasted like chicken.
What are some confusing or unintentionally funny marketing choices you have spotted?