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I googled my way onto this story from the New York Times and have been wondering how I felt about it ever since. It is about a rather new technology which lasers experation dates of eggs directly on the egg itself. The technology was created by Brad Parker after he saw a story on how hundreds of people die from salmonella poisoning after eating bad eggs. The story exposed how a salesman was taking old eggs from old cartons, washing them, and repackaging them in new cartons. This story was not exposing something new. This practice has been gong on for a long time and comsumers fall victim. Brad, whose family has a chicken farm
, was famliar with the industry and was able with years of research and lobbying see his vision of lasering freshness dates on eggs a reality. He founded EggFusion of Boulder, CO in 2001 and started production within a year "promoting freshness with every impression." His lasering technique is genius. It can not be washed off or peeled off. It is consumerism at its best but is it marketing at it's best?
It seems that many companies wish to be associated with your health & well being. As you will see when you read the New York Times article, CBS has bought the right to be the first and only advertiser to use the imprinting technoloy. They will be announcing their fall line up with what they call "egg-vertising". The companies trademark eye insignia, as well as the logos of 35 shows each with slogans like "CSI" (Crack the Case on CBS), will likely appear in an egg carton near you. It is an interesting concept to me. Although my first instinct was that perhaps there was a more humanitarian angle that should be associated with the process a la milk carton style with the posting of missing children on them (hopefully in time this will come! healthy recipes perhaps??). After that thought gets filed, I think...what a brilliant idea. For with most marketing efforts, consumers may briefly see or hear a message, but rarely do they tangibly engage with it. Yet with branding on eggs, consumers have to engage. The hand-pick their eggs. Virtually all senses have to engage (touching....breaking....seeing....tasting....even smelling). Few mediums allow advertisers to build this intimacy with the consumer. It allows them to interact and be exposed to a message several times. The consumer engagement becomes especially valuable when it is brought into the home and the rest of the family. The reach is phenomenal. So how do we feel about this? My thoughts are still scrambled. Dana FitzGerald |
