With my head upon the pillow, I spied the eight-legged creature.
I slid out of the blanket, grabbed the insect spray and zapped it. But, to my surprise, it still clung there. It was still moving around half a minute later. What was the matter? Why didn’t the spider die? I checked the spray can.
Mortein.
Good. I didn’t use my after shave on it.
So what was wrong?
Below the brand “Mortein,” it declared “Flying Insect Spray”. So that’s why the spider didn’t die. Spider’s don’t fly.
Welcome to the world of product diversification.
It’s a most irritating, if not expensive, world.
Companies caught on to the idea of taking a good product and create a range of them, which is supposed to give the consumer more choice. Yet what it causes it confusion and complexity and, ultimately, more money out of your own pocket.
I often like to buy cans of tuna as it’s quick meal to have with toast. (Mix it with mayonnaise, lemon juice and some lettuce to make it even more delicious!) But buying a can of tuna is no simple matter. You now have the choice of tuna in oil or brine or spring water. Tuna mixed with tomatoes, capsicum, spring onions or herbs. Tuna in chunks or flaked.
The choice seems to be endless. Finding a standard can of tuna amongst all the different variations is a task in itself!
Tried buying coconut milk lately? You now have the choice of lite, standard and cream. Perhaps just get one of each? Because that’s what the company that sells it wants you to do.
In this increasingly complex world, I’d go for simplicity … any time.
I hope the spider did eventually die. But I couldn’t find it’s body.
Perhaps it crawled into my bed …
6 responses so far ↓
Dayang // October 23, 2009 at 2:38 am |
They do that for customer satisfaction.
But for people with simpler mind (like me), we prefer simpler choices (or no choice at all) so that we don’t have to make tough decision every few steps at the supermarket.
These days, shopping for food alone can take hours.
Pootz In Boots // October 24, 2009 at 4:49 am |
Err…. spider is not an insect….
Yang-May Ooi // October 26, 2009 at 9:02 am |
Reading just the title to this post, I thought maybe you had sprayed the spider with a can of tuna…!
Your post made me smile – it’s so true that there are so many varieties of everything these days. D’you know that apparently Heinz 57 was initially to denote 57 different types of Heinz products but now, there are way way more than 57!
tunkuhalim // October 29, 2009 at 10:57 pm |
Dayang – I think they also do that for their own satisfaction … profitwise!
Pootz – Well spotted … maybe that’s why it didn’t die!
Yang-May – Hmmmm, I suppose they could well be on Heinz 570 by now. I wonder if spiders like tuna.
Andrea Whatever // October 31, 2009 at 6:14 am |
“Perhaps it crawled into my bed …”
Oh no! Tunku, now you have planted a scary thought into my head!!!!
Seriously, I sometimes wonder what is the significant difference – effectiveness (non-food), taste & nutritional value (food) – in these variants? I suspect the value-add in terms of input is marginal vs the higher pricing which one can get in positioning it as a premium product.
Like you, I prefer things to be as close to its original state as possible eg brown rice, brown sugar etc
tunkuhalim // November 2, 2009 at 2:55 am |
Andrea – I agree with you completely. The motive behind product diversification is probably profit margin enhancement (gosh, I sound like a corporate nerd!) Yes, the closer we get to the original ingredients, the healthier it is for all of us.