Frazz by Jef Mallett for November 01, 2011

My guess is it’s the same reason grocery stores always put cookies next to the bottled water. I always figured it was that health conscious people are more likely to give in to extreme sugar cravings.

In the Kroger near my home, the milk and bread are at opposite ends of the same aisle. And the cookies and water are nowhere near each other.

Want to talk devious? The cookies are all on one aisle— opposite the diapers and other infant/toddler merchandise.

And they place those cardboard display stands full of stuff right in your way, so you practically trip over them, and the kids bump into them scattering stuff all over the floor, with the parents getting mad at them for something that wasn’t their fault.

Since we are armed and know about all of these marketing ploys, why are we still so gullible?

Because this is the kind of stuff that works on stupid peop…I mean, mammals.

Can’t fix stupid

Actually went to a church that had a Zumba sign-up sheet right next to coupons for Krispy Creme.

Ah, yes. The day after Halloween: Candyboxing Day.

Good marketing is often known to be evil. Best ever: lingerie is next to the baby clothes in most department stores.

Nothing is placed on a store shelf by chance.

I hate it when big companies like Coke and Pepsie buy out shelf space so smaller competitors, like Faygo, don’t have as much room

When I was in high school psychology class we read The Hidden Persuaders Ever notice how much red there is in grocery store aisles? When boxed cakes first came out women wouldn’t buy them because they felt they were cheating their families, so Betty Crocker made her boxes red to attract attention. The book tells about all the things that manufacturers do to get our attention. It is 40 yrs old now, but the stuff is still in use.

Did you read ‘About Frazz’ up there on the right side of the page?

Cissycox: I read it too. They didn’t sell at first because they only required add water, stir, and bake. That was considered cheating, so they took out the powdered milk and eggs and had the customer add them – that involved enough participation as to not be cheating.

Exactly. And, as other have pointed out, the guys with the deepest pockets demand the prime locations. As I said before, nothing is placed on a store shelf by chance.

My local Wal-Mart puts the Oreos right next to the milk with a big sign saying “Milk’s favorite cookie.” And the store-brand milk cartons have Oreo advertisements printed right on the side. Talk about shameless…

Two of my “favorite” marketing campaigns: one is where the mother is talking about how important it is for mom to make healthy choices for her family (apparently dad has no input here) and that’s why when it comes to snacks, she chooses Hostess brand sugared carbs boiled in fat; the other is the breakfast cereal (don’t recall which one: take that, Mad Ave.) that refers to itself as “the fun part of this nutritious breakfast”. Numerous other examples, of course; these are just the ones that come to mind at the moment.

My favorite ad combo is at the pharmacy. They put the baby diapers and the condoms next to each other. Now THERE is a choice!