Why Bother?
If you have to disclaim it, just don’t do it!
I was in CVS a few months back and saw a retail poster that really bugged me. And if my phone wasn’t lost somewhere deep within my bag, I would have bothered to photograph it; but it was, so I didn’t.
I recently went back to that same CVS and there it was…
A picture of a woman with beautiful hair, and two infuriating words — digitally altered — right beside her perfect smile. It would have been less offensive if the poster simply said, “Our shampoo will not make your hair look this good”. Because let’s face it — will I actually feel like I just walked out of a salon? Or will I look like I just walked out of my bathroom, cleaner, and probably looking (and smelling) a bit better than when I walked in.
I have a lot of feelings about this — feelings about the product itself, feelings about the ad, feelings about our overly cluttered lives, feelings about the morality of materialism and consumerism.
Whoa that just got heavy.
I plan to write a series of articles to address all these feelings over time. For now, let’s start with the poster, the very catalyst for this discussion I wish to spark. Let’s zoom in on the disclaimer.
DIGITALLY ALTERED
Why produce something that cancels itself out? ‘Digitally altered’, ‘results may vary’, ‘color enhanced’. It may as well say, ‘this thing is not really the thing you are buying, it’s a close approximation, but don’t hold me to it.’ I am vexed. Here is why.
It is unethical: It is misleading, albeit not enough to be sued, hence the disclaimer. It’s a bait and switch, pure and simple.
It is inhuman: If you care about the people you serve, why are you misleading them? Why are you even making things for them that they don’t need.
But most of all, and this is the root cause of all the evils…
It is wasteful. A significant amount of human, financial, and material resources went into this poster finding its home in my local CVS. Why expend all that energy only to negate its primary purpose. Wouldn’t resources be better spent on creating a message that was true and motivating? “Buy me, I am just another shampoo, but I smell great and will make your hair feel nice”. Or better yet, create a product that has benefits that could be communicated without disclaimers. Maybe that rigor would lead to less marginal innovation, fewer and better choices for consumers, less overwhelm, and less materialism…maybe.
I have long felt that we need to declutter our world. Ceasing to fill it with shit we don’t need is a good first step. Next time you begin to think about how to expand your offer, forget the size of the ‘I(i)’ in i(I)nnovation and ask yourself this, does anyone really need this, and if so, can it truly deliver on its promise? If the answer is yes, go forth and innovate. Otherwise, pause, and think, and put your resources behind more meaningful endeavors.
Consider this, the antidote to toxic materialism is the abolition of marginal meaningless innovations (i.e., innovations created for commercial gain that lack a meaningful benefit that truly improves human lives.) If you had your druthers, what would you halt in its tracks, and where would you put the resources you just rescued?
PS: New to world ice cream flavors qualify as meaningful in my book, I am not unreasonable.
