Saturday 2 June 2007

JUST A BIT OF INNOCENT FUN

Have you noticed how certain companies are increasingly attempting to impress upon us the fact that they are cool, witty, fun-loving folk who are really only selling us stuff as an adjunct to their real business which is entertaining us with their cool, witty and fun-loving sense of humour?

Of course, advertising copy has always provided an opportunity to imaginative and daring companies, but now it’s all over the packaging as well…

Take those lovely people who make innocent drinks....

Next time you buy a bottle or a carton, take a moment to savour not just the contents but also the container!

No sell-by dates, you’ll notice, but enjoy-by dates! No warnings to keep the contents refrigerated but a polite suggestion that it's the best thing to do --- "or we'll come and get you"! No advice to shake before use, but, instead, an invitation to "Shake it up baby"!

Even the information about the ingredients has been charmingly copy-written to ensure cosy-cute feelings towards the manufacturer: "We promise that anything innocent will always taste good and do you good. We promise that we'll never use concentrates, preservatives, stabilisers, or any weird stuff in our drinks. And we promise to always wipe our feet."

In fact, there are little ho-hos everywhere - from top…


...to bottom!


Click on images to READ!

You may actually be ready now to visit the innocent blogspot which contains jolly stories about such things as a Mocker Swallowtail butterfly from Tanzania (currently resident at the Magic of Life Butterfly House in Aberystwyth) who, apparently, laps up innocent’s pineapples, bananas and coconuts smoothie… Just like YOU and ME! Goodness! Isn't nature WONDERFUL?


Who knows, it may even be time for you to join the innocent family

Go on! You know you want to go and have a look! Besides, I really must STOP being snide and cynical --- I am actually beginning to feel quite GUILTY!

12 comments:

Good Dog said...

Oh good grief, doesn't it just make you want to vomit?

I really must STOP being snide and cynical

When it comes to product packaging and advertising you have to keep being snide and cynical.

It's what got me through years of helping promote this sort of crap making (animated) commercials.

Anonymous said...

Precisely, good dog! I was hesitating between a massive YAWN and calling for a bucket!yaawwuck!

Brian Sibley said...

Hey, Guys! Just remember if INNOCENT products make you puke you will, at least, have the satisfaction of knowing that your puke is all natural and addative-free!

In point of fact, INNOCENT drinks TASTE good - it's just the too-consciously "charming" copywriting that makes me feel (after the first smile) uneasy and queasy...

Boll Weavil said...

I presume the advertising worked if you got close enough to photograph the carton ? The market in these kind of drinks has come about because of our desire to be fit and healthy and playing on our fear of the consequences has proved quite effective. As I write this, I'm eating a bowl of something that, only a few years ago,I'd have fed to my rabbit. I know that the number of calories in it is equal to a bowl of 'Golden Nuggets' which are much tastier but only use the Wild West as their selling theme so someone must have done something right....

Brian Sibley said...

BOLL WEAVIL - I am reminded of my old Dad who when museli first started making its assault on the English sensibility, described this new-fangled cereal (i.e. not Corn Flakes or Weetabix) as "the sweepings-up from the grain-house floor"!

Andy Latham said...

Innocent smoothies remind me of those mobile phone adverts (I forget which company, so the advertising can't be that good!) in which there is an innocent, wide-eyed girl talking in a high, yet still monotone voice about all the different types of conversation she likes. She's always wearing a floaty skirt and walking round barefoot, looking inquisitively at the things around her.

What an angel!....she makes me vomit!
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Good Dog said...

I know that the number of calories in it is equal to a bowl of 'Golden Nuggets'

Sorry, worked on the GN campaign. There's a ringside seat in Hell with my name on it for that one.

Anonymous said...

My main complaint about them is that they are darned expensive. My daughters loved them for about 3 months, but a 1 liture carton costs about £3.50 (compared with 75 p for the same volume of Waitrose apple juice). Thankfully, my daughters seem to have gone off the Innocent drinks now.

I think you missed some Innocent stuff in your post, Brian - for example you can make "bird feeders" from the empty cartons, they tell you.

One of my daughters went to an Innocent Smoothie sponsored "party in the park" a year or so ago, entitled "Fruitstock". (Maybe the rest of the world knows this, but as I don't watch live TV I am immune to advertising so I had no idea until she posted a picture on her blog about the day).

Brian Sibley said...

MAXINE - Forgot about the bird feeders --- also, apparently, you can fill then with water and freeze them to make cooler blocks for your picnic basket...

Valerie Singleton, of course, could have made an entire housing estate out of them!

David Weeks said...

Valerie Singleton the 'Blue Peter' children's TV show presenter?

Boll Weavil said...

Good Dog, there is no need to advertise Golden Nuggets ! They're just scrummy ! They're the closest thing to 'Goodos'(excuse the spelling but its been thirty years) that I've ever found. Unfortunately, as they aren't good for my heart and don't fill me with vital vitamins, they had to go !

Brian Sibley said...

DAVID - "Valerie Singleton the 'Blue Peter' children's TV show presenter?" WHO ELSE??