Diet foods, buzz, blah, blah, blah
As I perused the Today Show Web site, only one thought came to my head. “Are we really going through this again?”
The headline, linked from BusinessWeek, reads, “Are diet foods the real thing or just good buzz?”
I don’t know. Are you really reporting on this again? As Christopher Megerian writes, “The lesson for other food and beverage companies? The way to stay desirable in today’s market is to take an existing product, tweak its ingredients, and slap the word “diet” or “light” on the package.”
So, here’s my take. We, as Americans, are sucked into innovation. If it’s bright, shiny, and new, we’re going to buy it. And if it gives us even the tiniest inkling of a thought that we MIGHT be healthier, thinner, or more Brooke Burke-like, we’ll become its avid fan.
If staying competitive in the consumer product market has a whole lot to do with rebranding your existing food to tap into the diet craze, what is the consumer supposed to think? Are you rebranding because you’re developing a new product, or are you simply trying to jump on the bandwagon and reap the benefits of an increasingly popular trend?
This stat tells it all. Between 1985 and 2006, childhood obesity has more than doubled in the U.S., and two-thirds of U.S. adults qualify as overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
And just one more thing — is reporting about it in a national publication just feeding into the guise?
