Originally Posted by LittleTinker:
“I have worked in the food industry for a lot of my life and one place I worked for produced food for several chains of supermarkets plus Harrods, F&M's, M&S and local corner shop brands.
The food itself was exactly the same. It was all processed exactly the same, cooked the same and treated the same.......the only difference was packaging.
We had different boxes and jars for different shops. Different labels etc.
People are so easily duped into believing that what they buy is the best because thats what they want to believe yet so many experiments and processing facts tell us different. In fact most people (in testing) either cannot determin the 'expensive' brand or they prefer the cheaper ones.
(One classic case was one where Rick Stein had to contain his shame that 30 diners preferred an Aldi chicken to any other)
M&S strawberries, for example, are picked by the same people who pick strawberries for cheaper shops and markets and they come from the exact same fields.
These supermarkets do far too much to con us into believing we are buying something of quality when we are not.
How many people here buy M&S Oakham chicken? A chicken designed to 'sound' decent, posh, good quality etc etc. It isnt. Its just a bog standard cheap chicken that doesnt even come from anywhere called Oakham.
Supermarket tactics are very precise and their marketing ploys are, of course, designed to have us believe that we are getting the best.
Its all a bit 'Emperors New Clothes'.....we believe it because we want to believe it otherwise we would all look very stupid for choosing expensive over cheaper when there is no difference.........and no-one wants to be the first one to stand out and say......"Errrr actually........".”
“I have worked in the food industry for a lot of my life and one place I worked for produced food for several chains of supermarkets plus Harrods, F&M's, M&S and local corner shop brands.
The food itself was exactly the same. It was all processed exactly the same, cooked the same and treated the same.......the only difference was packaging.
We had different boxes and jars for different shops. Different labels etc.
People are so easily duped into believing that what they buy is the best because thats what they want to believe yet so many experiments and processing facts tell us different. In fact most people (in testing) either cannot determin the 'expensive' brand or they prefer the cheaper ones.
(One classic case was one where Rick Stein had to contain his shame that 30 diners preferred an Aldi chicken to any other)
M&S strawberries, for example, are picked by the same people who pick strawberries for cheaper shops and markets and they come from the exact same fields.
These supermarkets do far too much to con us into believing we are buying something of quality when we are not.
How many people here buy M&S Oakham chicken? A chicken designed to 'sound' decent, posh, good quality etc etc. It isnt. Its just a bog standard cheap chicken that doesnt even come from anywhere called Oakham.
Supermarket tactics are very precise and their marketing ploys are, of course, designed to have us believe that we are getting the best.
Its all a bit 'Emperors New Clothes'.....we believe it because we want to believe it otherwise we would all look very stupid for choosing expensive over cheaper when there is no difference.........and no-one wants to be the first one to stand out and say......"Errrr actually........".”
Finally somebody speaks some sense.
I can't believe so many people are taken in by the marketing! I suppose nobody wants to admit that they are taken in but don't they see a connection between their opinions and M&S (or Waitrose) marketing?
Vanity is a wonderful thing and I suppose that those that believe this kind of stuff like to feel they are 'better' etc. M$S is a chain and wants to make money, the first rule of such advertising is that you charge higher prices that supports the "quality" image. It's like some jeans, they are still made from the same material as any other pair of jeans but the name makes and extortionate price makes those who buy it feel "good".
In reality, it's quite something if they really believe that, using strawberries as an example, that there's a little M&S policeman there stopping other supermarkets getting to the strawberries until M&S have cherry picked their ones.
If you believe in the phrase, "you're just paying for the name", then you have to believe it applies to food chains as well. I take it you've all seen the experiment where the same tea, from the same tea pot poured into different coloured mugs and cups 'apparently' tastes differently depending on the colour of the mug/cup etc. It doesn't, we just believe it does.
Advertising... priceless.



