Upstairs at Caroline
Force Businesses To Advertise The Facts
RECEIVED Mon., Jan. 10, 2011
Dear Editor,
I recently bought a huge yellow bottle of Bayer low-dose aspirin. The bottle contained 300, yet could have easily contained 3,000 of these tiny tablets. Why would a multimillion-dollar environmentally responsible pharmaceutical company spend 10 times more on plastic, molding processes, and shipping than is required to safely deliver the product to the customer? Why would they create 10 times more demand for offshore petrochemicals and 10 times more load on landfills than would be rationally required?
Answer: Marketing is not rational. More shelf presence means more sales. Big is good. “I got a really big bottle of aspirin”; never mind that it was 90% air. Now multiply this little example to include everything we buy, and you get high levels of petroleum-based materials, gasoline for transportation, and landfill demand. These are levels of waste that would even embarrass our government.
Suggestion: Given our government seems to want to stick its nose into everything these days, I recommend a government requirement for all packaged products to carry an easily readable “Percent Air” disclosure. High is bad, low is good. The public could compare products with some weighing on environmental impact and responsibility.
These companies spend millions on their images. They call it “good will” and it is right in their budgets. I say force them to advertise the facts and trim back a bit on the marketing bullshit.
I recently bought a huge yellow bottle of Bayer low-dose aspirin. The bottle contained 300, yet could have easily contained 3,000 of these tiny tablets. Why would a multimillion-dollar environmentally responsible pharmaceutical company spend 10 times more on plastic, molding processes, and shipping than is required to safely deliver the product to the customer? Why would they create 10 times more demand for offshore petrochemicals and 10 times more load on landfills than would be rationally required?
Answer: Marketing is not rational. More shelf presence means more sales. Big is good. “I got a really big bottle of aspirin”; never mind that it was 90% air. Now multiply this little example to include everything we buy, and you get high levels of petroleum-based materials, gasoline for transportation, and landfill demand. These are levels of waste that would even embarrass our government.
Suggestion: Given our government seems to want to stick its nose into everything these days, I recommend a government requirement for all packaged products to carry an easily readable “Percent Air” disclosure. High is bad, low is good. The public could compare products with some weighing on environmental impact and responsibility.
These companies spend millions on their images. They call it “good will” and it is right in their budgets. I say force them to advertise the facts and trim back a bit on the marketing bullshit.
Nathan L. Gibson