Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Peter Robinson ·
Jan 4, 2011 at 9:42pm
Just noticed two tubes of toothpaste on the bathroom counter, and, reaching into a drawer underneath, two different kinds of soap. And it struck me: although we've been married 20 years--count 'em--my wife still buys Colgate and Dove, and I still buy Crest and Dial.
Why? Because those are the brands our parents had around our houses when we were kids. The power of brands really is remarkable, no?
I can find no deep cultural meaning in this whatsoever. Political meaning? I could say that party identity, like
brand identity, is very slow to change, making the recent Republican rebound all the more remarkable--I could say that, but I'd be reaching.
Still, this must mean something. James Lileks? Dave Carter? Steve Manacek? Anyone?
- Comment (40)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments :
May '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Means that you have better taste in tooth-washing detergent but that you need to learn that Dial is for the body and Dove is for the face.
Or, at least, I’m pretty sure that's what my ex-wife would have said.
For the record, though, I have very little loyalty to these kinds of products and couldn't tell you what my parents would have bought. My loyalty runs to underarm deodorant, car companies, tech companies, and rock bands. For some reason.
May '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Peter, you're Catholic. Why doesn't this make perfect sense to you? =)
Jun '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
You want to talk brand name longevity, Catholic says it all. Two thousand years and still going. Nothin' sells like hellfire and damnation.
Dec '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Sowell on choosing brands of film, from Knowledge and Decisions pg 208:
"There is much to be gained by using one brand to free one's picture taking attention for aesthetic concerns rahter than technical considerations."
Jun '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
It just occurred to me that the Judaism has been around longer than the Catholic church. I would attribute that to the fact that the Jews, the guys at any rate, have got skin in the game.
Dec '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
My parents are about the same age as you and your wife and they are the exact same way. The men in our house (3 boys) buy what my dad buys now that we're all either in college or grad school. The girls all buy what my mom buys.
Politically speaking, what this "brand loyalty" touches upon is something I feel strongly about: the worthiness of the GOP "brand". I was watching a documentary on Lincoln the other day and it was a much-needed reminder that the party I most closely align with (the GOP) is the party that rightly balances progress (freeing the slaves, the facilitation of free market innovation, etc.) with tradition (adherence to the Constitution, valuing of cultural customs, etc.). Perhaps some new party will come along some day soon and conservatives and libertarians will pick up stakes and head in that direction, but even as a young man in my 20's I feel a loyalty to the party of Reagan, Coolidge, and Lincoln. It's my "Crest and Dial."
It's a fight worth having, this recent renaissance of the GOP. May it continue, tea and all.
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
R.J., you're going to fit right in here. Welcome!
Jul '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
It's a tragic case of arrested consumer development.
Peter, no one uses bar soap anymore. We use liquid soap, for heaven's sake. Where do you even get this antique stuff - under the counter at some shady bodega? The stockpile from your fallout shelter?
It's the same thing as the Camaro fetish, pal. '70's technology in Batman drag. Even my wife's SUV would smoke that turkey.
Man, if I ever want to experience a Leave it to Beaver Thanksgiving, I'm coming to your house. And I'll bring Richard Nixon.
May '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Liquid soap? Please. My preference is for a good bar of soap inundated with iron filings (or some such rough material) to properly abuse my skin and help me form good calluses.
Liquid soap is for the weak.
Okay, that's probably not quite true. The truth would be more that I like really expensive, old-fashioned soaps that smell of natural cedar and sandalwood. When I shave, I like to use a brush and shaving soap and I treat it like a ritual. The scents and the feel make it more of an art than a chore.
But there doesn't seem to be a lot of call for that these days and I think that's a pity.
Jul '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
You're talking about Lava, the pumice soap. My dad was a lumberjack and heavy-equipment mechanic. Lava was the only soap that could remove the grime. Along with the skin.
May '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
I love Lava. It really does remove grime like a champ.
May '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Crest, Colgate, Dial and Dove? Huh? I switched to Tom's of Maine for my dental hygiene needs. Of course, I feel compelled to admit that I kept getting the brand name wrong for about 20 years until I was recently corrected. I kept mistakingly calling it Uncle Tom's... of... Maine.
Edited on Jan 4, 2011 at 10:56pmRe: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
What's strange to me is that you buy your own soap and toothpaste...
Jul '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
You're talking about Lava, the pumice soap. My dad was a lumberjack and heavy-equipment mechanic. Lava was the only soap that could remove the grime. Along with the skin.
Who buys his boxer shorts? And do they have Care Bears on them?
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
It's the holidays, Diane. With my wife busy looking after our houseguests, it fell to me a few days ago to stock up on supplies. I did so, all unthinking--until, this evening, I noticed what I'd bought.
And I join Troy in welcoming RJ. Reagan, Coolidge, and Lincoln. Three great men, three stout Republicans, and--Troy knows this, and I suspect RJ does as well--three men--not Lincoln alone, but the Gipper and Coolidge, too--who could write.
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Greg Adams: Sowell on choosing brands of film, from Knowledge and Decisions pg 208:
"There is much to be gained by using one brand to free one's picture taking attention for aesthetic concerns rahter than technical considerations." · Jan 4 at 10:18pm
I stand in awe of anyone capable of finding such an apposite quotation, so quickly, from so great a man. Welcome to Ricochet, Greg!
Dec '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
When Art Nielsen started his consumer research firm back in during the Great Depression, he got a contract from a grocery chain to survey households in their area to find out their preferences regarding bath soap. Nielsen sent his men door to door to ask housewives what brand they used, and he reported back that they preferred Lux to Palmolive two to one. The grocer told Nielsen his data was faulty; Palmolive outsold Lux two to one in their stores.
Nielsen sent his men back out, this time with instructions to ask to use the bathroom midway through the survey -- and to look at the actual bar of soap in the bath. Turns out that twice as many households used Palmolive as Lux, but the housewives wanted the survey takers to believe that their households could afford to use the more expensive Lux instead of the bargain-brand Palmolive.
From that point on, Nielsen determined only to report data he could actually measure. That's how he came up with the People-Meter that recorded which station radios (and later televisions) were physically tuned to in his Nielsen families' homes.
May '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
A quote in my Marketing textbook "There ain't no brand loyalty 3 cents off won't overcome."
Hard for me to relate to buying a "brand name" unless for some reason it's really differentiable (in my mind at least) from what's on sale or the generic (start a fight about Oreos vs. Brand X?).
Jul '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
I wonder how old you were when you married. Advertisers pay a premium to target teenagers and young adults because their brand loyalties are fluid. As we age, we buy brands out of habit. I buy Crest because I've bought Crest for a long time. I remember trying a few other brands when I was younger, but I came back to Crest because I liked it more, or perhaps had just grown accustomed to it.
My partner of 24 years and I use the same toothpaste brand, but we were fairly young when we got together. Perhaps if we had been older, we each would have had our own brand preferences, developed independently, and bought separate toothpaste.
Old brand loyalties die hard. I'm still a registered Democrat even though I'm, you know, here, and no further to the left than Rob Long.
Jul '10
Re: Could Someone Please Tell Me What This Means?
Buying by brands is a mug's game. I came to this realization when I noticed that the house brand of Cheerios at Wal-Mart is almost half the price of the genuine article. I suppose a connoisseur could tell the difference. As much as I like to support the huge advertising budgets of mammoth cereal companies, I defected on the spot and have never gone back. Surely, that is what Adam Smith wanted us to do.