What you see is what you cry about
Alice and I went to Target the other night for a few odds (Zhu Zhu pet) and ends (toilet paper). Heh heh.
She's six and wants good toilet paper, it seems, as she almost cried when I picked the store brand. She had made her own selection and I wondered, What's so great about Charmin? I looked through the crinkled plastic and couldn't discern any noticeable difference. And both packages weighed the same.
Then the light kicked on and I had her walk down the long row of brands to tell me what she saw on each of them:
"Bear."
"Puppy."
"More bears."
"Baby on a cloud."
And on my frugal choice? Nothing.
9 comments:
Sounds like you need to bring a set of markers with you next time, Daddy ; - )
wondering which one you ended up buying...the bear or the frugal store brand? Funny how we can be sold with a commercial of toilet paper on a bear's bum.
Oh, definitely the store brand.
Your story reminds me of a recent shopping experience with our 2 1/2 year old daughter. I had never realized the Disney princesses were on so many grocery items until I took Moira shopping with me. Suddenly she was very interested in what went in the cart..."look Mommy, more princesses!" as we turned each corner. I expected it on items like fruit snacks and cereals, but they were on items that I had never noticed before...soups, pastas, crackers, juices, not to mention the random toys scattered throughout the store at the end of each aisle. Our daughter wanted foods that she normally would not have paid attention to, just because the princesses were on it. And I couldn't get over how companies just slapped the picture on a label without changing the product inside one bit. Apparently companies are hoping that a picture, of a princess or a bear, is going to make a big difference in our shopping choices.
Glad to hear it didn't affect yours, Sam. =)
Bravo, Moira! And a great follow-up, Melissa. I wonder how many parents would have pursued her observation and considered its implications.
My girls are teenagers now, so no more grabbing products off the grocery store shelves and fighting over it. Instead we fight over how much make-up products from CVS they really need. And from Sephora. And from Bare Esscentials. (look, my wife doesn't help in this department, either.) If only it were as simple as the toilet paper...
I'll be looking for your advice when we get there, Brad.
You can do it, Sam, you can do it.
:) store brand all the way...
luckily we don't have very many choices here...
amy in peru... really! ;)
Amy, I'm jealous of your few choices. Sure, it's nice when we need a very specific ingredient or part for a tool, but I'm overwhelmed by the array of choices here.
Last week I shopped for 20 people who planned to spend two days in the front country and three days in the wilderness x three meals per day with three members who have dietary restrictions. Do you know how I would have enjoyed something less than a mega store full of options?
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