FootPrint: less consumption, less damage, shorter trails...

When you bite that sandwich you don't only consume calories, but also all the energy used for the production of its ingredients. Think about it: the cost entailed is far higher that just 2.99 euros.

To know more, here is a video prepared by STOA Science and Technology Options Assessment.     (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/stoa/)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAybZOfCN6g

&

If you also want to know your environmental footprint check this out too

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

So, next time you eat something, you might as well think about your footprint trails left behind...

When the message becomes more important than the product: Cheerios Super Bowl Commercial

Sometimes understanding an advert is quite subjective: we are all inclined to see our own projections on it, whereas concepts and messages deriving from it could subconsciously influence us.
Furthermore, a food advert can become provocative, just by steering a somewhat heated political discourse. Meanwhile, not many people are focusing on the product. In this way, the message becomes more important than the product itself.

This is the case of the Cheerios Super Bowl Commercial: there are many comments on the message deriving from it, but hardly any on the food promoted by it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6r_j55iVs

Private Label Products overtaking brands? Nielsen spots the trend.

Would you prefer private label chocolate, rice, yogurt, pasta or milk over a famous branded option?

Would it be just the price, or are there other reasons counting for your choice such as quality?

I have to admit that I prefer private label products over branded ones, as so many customers are already doing: a trend also spotted by Nielsen. 

Still, the price is not the only factor leading consumers-myself included- to private label purchases, so much so, that retailers will have to "innovate", "expand", "embrace" and "grow" their products according to the needs of the customers. But there are so many questions to be answered beforehand such as for instance: 

a) how much innovation can a customer demand?

b) can retailers be innovative and still offer an affordable product? 

c) will private label products, overtake the branded ones? 

At the end of the day, the rudimentary question (along the lines of Freud's remark "What does a woman want") remains the same:  what does a Customer really want?
Keep it simple and affordable, or make it "complicated" and possibly expensive? 

As long as quality and price are considered as important criteria of private label products' "Product Mix" and super markets stand close to customers' needs, then everything is possible in the following years. You never know what the customers will ask for. 

One thing is for sure: so much of everything is not the answer.

So, look around you at a supermarket, after checking the latest by Nielsen: are you surprised?

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2014/how-private-label-and-retailers-are-disrupting-the-trading-envirornment-in-western-europe.html

Check the Label

So what you see is what you get?
Is food labeling as accurate as expected?
Do words like "Natural" "Light" "Whole Grains" tell the whole truth about the food you are buying?

Here is a link with a list of the top 5 words that should be banned from food advertising as "misleading".
Of course the topic of labeling is a very complicated one, as it involves a lot of issues on customer rights, ethical advertisement, competition and public health. As already mentioned in previous posts, there is a non-exhaustive list of regulations on the subject, so that, with this index, you might as well, get an idea.


http://www.leanwashingindex.com/
http://www.care2.com/causes/5-misleading-words-that-should-be-banned-from-food-advertising.html

Psychology and Advertisement

Reading on the topic, I just came across this video about psychology in advertisement.

Succinct and beautiful.
Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7VLjIw8hY

Food and Drugs Advertisement: Something ain't right

How to get the message across?
Puzzled when reading the title or looking at the photograph?

Here are some striking examples on what could be characterized as an advertisement with a peculiar taste : From 19th century Victorian Age

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198086/Victorian-adverts-health-remedies-laden-cocaine-morphine-alcohol.html

to 21st century Modern age:
http://www.complex.com/city-guide/2013/08/completely-inappropriate-booze-and-food-ads/non-alcoholic-nova-schin

Semiotics and Meaning on Food and Drug adds are meant to be taken seriously, in order to avoid creating wrong innuendos.

Super Foods: "True" or "False" ?

Super Foods. A term somewhat redundant. 

Food is nutritious and healthy per se as long as it is not consumed in excess. After all according to Hippocrates 

" Everything in excess is opposed to nature".

So, are there any real Super Foods? According to EU legislation manufacturers should be very careful when using such claims in order to characterize their foods as such: there must be sound scientific evidence supporting them. 

Here is a list of some interesting articles and links on Super Foods, their labeling and Health Claims. 

So, next time you are going to the grocery shop, play a game and look out for  "False" or "True" health claims. 

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/nutrition.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121005082537.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/12/superfood-bore-off-jay-rayner?CMP=twt_fd
http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/gcetwo_class.pdf