Back in the day, manufacturers tried to encourage us to buy their products by promotioning them as ‘new!’ and ‘improved!’, better than the other guy’s ‘ordinary’ whatever-it-is.

They still do this of course, but in these times of social and environmental awareness, it’s no longer enough to push your product as merely superior to others. No, these days you’ve also got to demonstrate your virtue as a ‘responsible’ supplier.

This was brought home to me the other day as I unloaded the shopping when the wife and I got back from the supermarket. Take our Kleenex tissues for instance. The packaging assured us that ‘we want to do our bit to reduce our impact on the planet; our pack is 100% recyclable and we are looking to reduce and reuse as much plastic as we can’. Didn’t stop you from wrapping the twin pack in plastic film though did it?

Then there was our surface cleanser. These days it doesn’t just kill 99.9% of all bacteria, but ‘contains no bleach, no dyes, and is pH neutral’ (whatever the fuck that is’). To top things off, the ‘bottle is made with 50% recycled plastic’. The floor cleaner has its own angle. The container certifies it to be ‘cruelty free’ and ‘vegan’, as does that of the bathroom cleaner, which has the bonus of only containing ‘natural oils’.

Foodstuffs are just the same as well. I was pleased to learn that our ice cream contains ‘sustainably grown, handpicked bourbon vanilla; the container being ‘made with 93% less plastic’. Our ketchup contains ‘no artificial colourings, flavourings, preservatives or thickeners’, and is ‘gluten free, and suitable for vegetarians and vegans’. Well of course.

It turned out that just about every item had some blurb on the front which promoted it on the basis of one or another aspect of ‘responsible’ production. I’m heartened to see that manufacturers are now taking their obligations to both the consumer and to the planet seriously.

Of course, they might actually not give a toss. This could all be just another marketing ploy to make us feel better and more at ease psychologically, and therefore more inclined to buy. It could all be just about that bottom line. No… they couldn’t possibly be THAT cynical.

Could they?

Cheeky Panda Products.

Nominated by : Ron Knee