Day 64, Aldi, marketing guff

Nipped in Aldi on the way back from the football.  I'd bought some Mozzarella from the local supermarket earlier, but it wasn't quite enough, and I spotted some in Aldi while generally perusing the shelves.  It was a third of the price, and better than the stuff I'd bought earlier.  Slightly vexing that I'd paid too much for something not as good.

This is not an advert, it is a less than enthralling anecdote while I try and work up some fury about the capitalist system.  

Also in Aldi was the fruit and veg section.  This had all manner of items, including something called "fun size apples". These apples were slightly smaller than a typical apple.  This tiny thing, the odd label, is an indicator that something else is at work here.  Why would anyone call them that, it's just weird isn't it?  But then again it is the language of sales, it is the language of advertising, it is saying this product fits a different market than your typical apple.  It fits the style of a type of marketing aimed at parents inducing them to buy this product for their kids.  Vast sums are spent by supermarkets on consumer psychologists and sales strategists so there's obviously something at work underneath this.

In this instance you might think 'so what is the problem with trying to get kids to eat more fruit?'  And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.  The aim is to sell an additional set of product but on the face of it it isn't a bad thing - assuming that the kids actually get around to eating the fruit and it doesn't end up in the bin/compost.  However when this type of marketing appears in other products, let's say Lego and the recent range of figures that contained a number of gender stereotypes, then it can have a negative impact.  It reinforces the acceptability of saying that you should only aspire to particular behaviours, it makes it appear acceptable to put people in boxes, it suggests that there is nowhere for anyone to go beyond the assumptions that have been made about them.

By trying to categorise to separate and target marketing, to sell the same product multiple times under different guises to different 'demographics', then the flexibility and possibility of human achievement is ignored.  I'm pretty sure most people aren't affected by this and don't wear this type of labelling like a straightjacket, but it does have an effect on how people think, it does filter through in some way.

I know what I'm trying to say.  If only I could sell it.