we are limited only by the choices we see

I love this! Springwise calls it “softdrinks for the undecided”, but it could just as easily be “softdrinks for those who couldn’t care less”.

“Consumers don’t know which flavour they’re getting until they take a sip. Cans are simply labelled Anything and Whatever, and the list of ingredients is limited to generic wording: carbonated water, sugar, permitted flavouring, permitted colouring, preservative, tea extract, fruit juice concentrate.”

“…The key, of course, is to produce products that are good enough to guarantee repeat sales. We think established food and beverage brands could have fun with this one, too, and would have the benefit of working from a brand consumers already trust.”

And I love it because, here’s a brand showing respect for a generation that is rapidly growing tiresome of mass-marketed freedom of choices.

Never, since consumerism took control of our imagination, has there been such a fast-growing group of disenchanted youth who don’t really care to compartmentalize themselves in such shallow and claustrophobic expressions of individuality and apparent choice. And more critically, here is a brand acknowledging your need to save yourself – I almost said mindspace there – for other far more important things in life. It’s a life lesson in a minor key. Let’s just hope it doesn’t become a cult brand.

What the hell is an ikea-person anyway?

“People kept telling us they wanted ‘Anything’ or ‘Whatever’ whenever we asked them what they wanted to drink.” – Johnson Tan, Managing Director, Out of the Box Pte Ltd.

After all, it’s just a momentary, sweetened, artificially flavoured, carbonated drink. take a fucking chance and move on.

So what’s the takehome message? For me, it would be, ‘Remove the pressure’. Help young people destress in a way that’s part-fun, part-subversive (by being a mass-marketed, shallow-appeal brand itself) and adequately rewarding (that’s the bit about the product being good enough). Tell them it’s not worth your time of day to have to decide or even have a preference about this, the product we make. Carry on.

“The choices we are given are the choices we are expected to make.”

Reminds me of the time I was asked if I could write an essay on choice for a global, agency-wide competition. I chose not to.