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<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Going to the grocery store can be a dreary chore, so I reframe the trip as a contest of wills between me, the wily consumer, and marketers, eager to suck me in with their coveted eye-level shelf-space, flashy packaging and dubious health claims.<\/p>\n
I have seen marketing terms come and go.\u00a0 Natural, light, organic, craft, vine-ripened, and various iterations of fresh (farm fresh, fresh frozen, fresh picked, etc.) have all have grown stale with overuse.\u00a0 The word \u201cartisan\u201d is in the process of being flogged to death.\u00a0 When properly used the word implies a product that is individually made, perhaps a loaf of bread made by a stooped woman from the old country with knuckles gnarled from a lifetime of kneading.\u00a0 Now McDonald\u2019s has co-opted this word to describe its buns.\u00a0 When I asked the cashier with the greasy hair and visible bra what makes the flattened bun \u201cartisan,\u201d she said, \u201cHow am I supposed to know?\u00a0 Do you want it or not?\u201d<\/p>\n
The grasping maw of McDonald\u2019s marketing department has perpetrated an identity theft on the true artisans of the world.<\/p>\n
Inventing a healthy sounding word is another strategy.\u00a0 Yesterday at Costco I noticed that the bag of chopped kale mixed in with other greens contained the breathless banner, \u201cContains 7 Superfoods!!\u201d\u00a0 I had heard of the concept of a \u201csuperfood\u201d and perhaps this designation convinced me to try kale, a marked departure from the wretched iceberg lettuce of my childhood.\u00a0 I discovered that I loved kale and thrilled to the idea that something healthy could taste so good.\u00a0 In fact, a kale salad would be my go-to meal on a deserted island – as long as I could bring along a little parmesan, bacon, currants and pine nuts.<\/p>\n
But now I was confronted with a dizzying array of seven simultaneous superfoods.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wikipedia suggests that superfoods are \u201cnutritionally dense\u201d with either high amounts of fiber, vitamins, trace minerals, or cancer-defying anti-oxidants.\u00a0 So, if I eat seven all at once, am I doubling down on anti-oxidants or is the super-ness spread across all attributes?\u00a0 Would the health benefits of seven superfoods be enough to cancel out that evil canister of salted caramels I grabbed on the way out of Costco?<\/p>\n
My bag of seven superfoods only lists eight ingredients, so there must be one outlier, and I bet it is the poppy seed dressing whose principal ingredient seems to be sugar.\u00a0 But how did the magnificent seven qualify in the first place?\u00a0 How are cut-offs established between super and merely pedestrian, and is there some international body that verifies such a term?\u00a0 And if a splash of a superfood is added to enhance the flavor of an everyday product, can the whole product then be called super?<\/p>\n
I couldn’t find any answers to these reasonable questions.\u00a0 In this country, the word superfood is unregulated and marketers can slap this current darling on any product at will.\u00a0 Blueberries were among the first superfoods even though they only provide moderate levels of nutrients compared to other fruits and vegetables.\u00a0 A sharp-witted executive at the Blueberry Council must have received a fat bonus for this marketing coup.\u00a0 Now all sorts of odd-ball berries from distant realms have joined the group \u2013 Goji, Acai, Noni – with the added benefit that a superfood designation plus an exotic origin justifies a higher price.<\/p>\n
As I spent quality time in Costco\u2019s walk-in fridge, I realized that varieties of bagged lettuce are in a pitched battle to claim a distinct niche.\u00a0 To the right of my familiar bag of chopped kale were stacks of mass-produced romaine lettuce, given the oxymoronic label of \u201cartisanal.\u201d To the left was a bag labeled \u201cPower Greens,\u201d consisting of chard, kale and spinach.\u00a0 Was \u201cPower Greens\u201d a new faddish marketing term?\u00a0 If so, the marketers were pursuing a familiar strategy.\u00a0 The bag provided no definition of \u201cpower\u201d nor any health benefit.\u00a0 I unclenched my ice-cold fingers, wrote down the numbers of the consumer hotlines and then headed home.<\/p>\n
A peppy woman named Mahogany answered my first call to Sweet Kale Vegetable. \u00a0She was probably trained to handle customer complaints about wilted greens rather than discussing the nuances of \u201csuperfood.\u201d\u00a0 She put me on hold until she pulled\u00a0up a script on her computer.\u00a0 \u201cA superfood is a marketing term that describes a nutritionally dense food with supposed health benefits,\u201d she read.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the health benefits,\u201d I asked, \u201cand what does \u2018supposed\u2019 mean?\u00a0 Does that mean that the health benefits are not yet proven?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell it describes a nutritious food,\u201d she said in a quavering voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you think that the concept of nutrition is inherent in the concept of food?\u00a0 \u201cHow is a superfood more nutritious than other foods?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, it\u2019s just what they wanted to name it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, okay,\u201d I said, moving in for the kill.\u00a0\u201cWould you say then that a \u2018superfood\u2019 is a meaningless marketing term?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, that’s what\u00a0it’s looking like from here,\u201d she chirped, glad to end the discussion.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t take pleasure in bullying an eager consumer representative, but I could tell that she was relieved that I was not yelling at her about some foreign object in my bag, like a yellowed toenail or frizzy hairball.<\/p>\n
On to Power Greens.\u00a0 The first responder at Earthbound Organics was flummoxed by my question about the meaning of power.\u00a0 Instead she concentrated\u00a0on the convenience of having a ready mixture of greens that was\u00a0ideal for smoothies\u00a0 \u201cThese greens have more energy and are healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHealthier than what?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
She began\u00a0to backtrack, \u201cWell it really depends on your diet, and of course you should consult your doctor on what is healthiest for you, but it is a nice combination for smoothies.\u201d<\/p>\n
I switched it up, \u201cYou know superfood is a term that is familiar to many consumers, there is even a Wikipedia entry for it.\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t you call your product a superfood?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell we just wanted to use a different word, and Power Greens is something different to catch your eye.\u201d<\/p>\n
It looks like Earthbound Organics has sounded a death knell for the superfood industry.\u00a0 Like a shark, ever moving on the ocean floor, their marketing department is on the search for something\u00a0bright and shiny to replace the old and stale.<\/p>\n
What will they come up with next?\u00a0 I am probably delusionally na\u00efve, but is it possible that we have run out of superlatives?\u00a0 I suppose you could combine\u00a0accolades and label a food \u201csuper-duper,\u201d \u201csuper-power,\u201d \u201cmega-super,\u201d \u201cultra super\u201d or \u201cVa-Va-Va-Voom.\u201d\u00a0 But dear Lord, I hope consumers see through these contrivances.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it is time to try a little reverse psychology, turn a negative into a positive.\u00a0 It worked for a Boy Named Sue, who attributed his toughness to the handicap of his name.\u00a0 For decades it has worked for Smucker\u2019s Jelly, whose advertising tagline still proclaims, \u201cWith a Name Like Smucker\u2019s, It has to be Good.\u201d<\/p>\n
So why not use the same strategy for the next exotic berry trying to elbow its way onto the superfood shelf?\u00a0 How can it differentiate itself from the established Goji, Acai and Noni berries?\u00a0 How about, \u201cLoogi Berry, harvested from the fetid waters of Calcutta.\u00a0 With a Name like Loogi, It has to be Supergood!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nFollow Liza Blue on: Going to the grocery store can be a dreary chore, so I reframe the trip as a contest of wills between me, the wily consumer, and marketers, eager to suck me in with their coveted eye-level shelf-space, flashy packaging and … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"