I grabbed the Old Spice, the one on the left in the photo. I promise you, however, that only the Old Spice was in the shower with me ... although I certainly do need to catchup on many things.
Except the bottle was oriented the other way from the photo — with the top-up.
While that might have seemed normal in the previous century, I think the picture suggest that the bottle paradigm is shifting and that top-down is becoming the de facto normative position.
It only makes sense really because when the bottle is more empty than full, the desired substance, which is what you buy the bottle for in the first place is much more accessible.
Beyond that, it's especially handy dandy for ketchup which has from time immemorial (whatever that means, but it sounds good to me) been a deuce of a thing to entice out of its container. You know what? It only costs a few cents more to purchase the top-down ketchup container than the old fashioned standard issue. And since one bottle of ketchup lasts for at least a half century, I for one am willing to ante up the extra coinage.
So ... if the Old Spice bottle will stand top-down as in the photo, why was I forced to orient it standing top- up in the shower? Regardless (please note: not irregardless as many are wont to say), why was it a problem?
Well,I didn't have it standing top- down because the top is so narrow that a misguided breath or water droplet would bring it tumbling down. That's why!
And ... that was a problem because I had almost run out of soap and prodigious shaking was required. It's not that I mind that much, really, but I really wonder why those Spicy Oldsters who make the product wouldn't just design the cap properly in the first place. This halfway business is nowhere, dude/duchess.
I mean, it was good for one blog post, but the keener visioned amongst will have discerned that I have gone over to the nymphs of the Irish Spring for my next month of laves.
I'm sure there will be a spring in my step although I'm likely to become a less spicy blogger.
I've come to realize that the bottles which are meant to stand on the cap end have labels that are oriented that way. That Old Spice bottle does look a bit precarious though the Irish Spring appears pretty solid.
ReplyDeleteMore than anything, I suspect that the Old Spice commercial with the really charismatic guy (ladies, look at your man, now look at me.. now back to your man... now back to me) did wonders for their sales.
Oooooo--I love the Old Spice model in those commercials.
ReplyDeleteAC--I didn't realize you were his under-study.
;-)
Only you, AC, would make a whole blog entry about the upside down conundrum of commercial products. No wonder you are never at a loss for what to write, as I am so often !
ReplyDeleteI salute you (standing upright that is).
I am almost positive that are are many out there who wish I was at a loss for words more often. :)
ReplyDeleteA/C please, I say please again, don't loose your 'Spice.' Old or young you must stay spicey.
ReplyDeleteQMM
But I really do like those sweet young things that hang around the Spring.
ReplyDelete....I now don't know if I'm up or down....Hahaaaaa
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend SpiceMan!
hughugs
Interesting post. It prompts my thinking on how emerging consumerist trends, such as this inverse labeling phenomenon you describe, reflect the values of efficiency - an ideology that is increasingly seeping into the public sector, including our health care system where dominant public critiques continue to focus on waiting times and expenditures instead of on equitable access to health services or cultural safety, for example. Consequently, I commend Old Spice for not giving into norms of efficiency. I would like to think that Old Spice is otherwise concerned with the equitable working conditions of Old Spice employees, the environmental impact related to manufacturing, and of course, the quality of the product. That being said, I also support a switch to Irish Spring because it smells way prettier. :)
ReplyDeleteEven the upside down bottles I end up shaking in the end because I still have a tough time getting the product out... lol
ReplyDelete@Alycia: Irish Spring also has the label just the way you like it. Who could ask for more?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they were now making containers for semi-liquids with upside down labels.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have been ahead of the times as I stand "bottles" upside down all the time, for a long time.
Oh! to have copy written the idea! Another idea on which I missed a fortune.