Dana Bell

We had frozen za today, baked in the oven, of course. The box says, "New Look, Same Great Taste". I thinking though, if there's a new look, shouldn't the consumer see it, without reading it. Also thinking, why brag that the package is better, but the product isn't.

Advertising is a humorous commodity. Much of it is entertaining, but there is a lot that is humorously stupid. Another example... There was a fast food product I used to get, don't remember for sure what it was, something like vegetable beef. The thing that I remembered about one of it's improved products was, "Now more vegetables!" The product weighed the same, so I'm assuming it had less meat. Why didn't it say, "Less meat"?

Everyone has had pork and beans, but as long as I can remember, it was all beans, with an occasional sample of fat with a little meat on one edge. This was apparently the result of the evolution of the food packaging industry.

There are many other industries that have portrayed themselves as professionals while inflating the cost of what you have to buy. Some of them even have laws passed to protect their occupations, under the guise of protecting the consumer. The real estate industry is one of the most corrupt of these. Conventionally at 6%, an agent can make $9,000 on a $150,000 house, just for talking someone into buying it. They don't even own it, and much of the technical work is done by mortgage companies.

The most vexing of consumer stories today has to do with the Wal-mart giant. They advertise low prices, but in order to do that they have to do two things. On the one hand, they do their best to put the local companies out of business, while forcing manufacturers to drop their prices, and their ability to insure factory workers are adequately paid.

Wal-mart is one of those things that's too good to be true. Of all the major companies in the world, this one does the most to deflate our economy. They work to depreciate the value of your time on the job and then arrogantly proclaim, "Low Prices, Always".