Perception is Reality
In “All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek,” author Dave Marinaccio offers up this little tidbit, about his days as an advertising exec:
“To produce vodka in the United States of America, you must follow very restrictive rules. These rules require that the vodka be both odorless and tasteless. The rules work. In blind taste tests, American vodkas are indistinguishable from each other.
I learned this amazing piece of trivia in a conference room at an advertising agency in Chicago. This information was considered important because our job was to convince consumers that the vodka we were advertising was the best-tasting.
Our task was not impossible, though. You see, the very same consumers who could not distinguish a taste difference between vodkas in a blind taste test could find wide differences in taste when there were labels on the bottles. Since our bottle had a label on it, we were confident we could become the best-tasting vodka.
The researcher who told us these wondrous facts closed the meeting with a phrase that is an advertising mantra. She said ‘Perception is reality.’ Her point was that we should treat these taste differences as if they were real.
To reinforce the perceived differences, we would create a ‘point of difference’ from the other brands of vodka. In our case, we would tell the public that our special filtering process is what produces the smooth, smooth taste you can find only in our bottles. Ironically, it is the filtering that makes all American vodkas absolutely tasteless. But hey, perception is reality.”
I thought about this story earlier today, as I was perusing a legal brief over at fdalawblog.net on the recently-dismissed, class action lawsuit against PepsiCo over their Aquafina bottled water. There’s a rundown on it over at law.com, too.
Mark Hamblett
New York Law Journal
December 19, 2008An attempt to sue PepsiCo for misrepresenting that Aquafina water comes from a pure mountain spring and not from public water supplies has been defeated by federal pre-emption.
Plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation claimed they believed that the iconic picture of mountains with a red-orange sun behind them on the label accompanied by the slogan “Pure Water-Perfect Taste” meant that bottled water came from a pure stream. But they lost out because the federal Food and Drug Administration defines purity and Aquafina fits its definition.
…In addition to the blue squiggle representing the mountains and the orange-red circle representing the setting or rising sun behind them, the plaintiffs cited the bottle’s product description as “Purified Drinking Water” as misleading. They also cited a statement on the back of the label reading “BOTTLED AT THE SOURCE P.W.S.” — which they claimed was an abbreviation for “Public Water Supply.”
The plaintiffs lost their case – not because they were wrong, but because…
Thus, while it is clear that the FDA contemplated that marketing techniques could potentially mislead consumers into believing that bottled water sourced from municipal supplies was actually “spring water,” it is also evident that the FDA determined that such concerns are irrelevant in the context of purified water. Indeed, the final rule is replete with evidence that, in contrast to spring water, the FDA concluded that because purified water, from whatever source, has been treated to meet purity standards, its source is immaterial to reasonable consumers. (p.17)
In other words, purified water is purified water, source notwithstanding, and Federal rules on bottled water standards trump the state laws covering deceptive marketing practices in this instance.
I guess in a way, I can’t disagree with the reasoning here: water IS water. On the other hand, I can’t find fault with the plaintiffs, either…if the source of the water in Aquafina had been known, I doubt it would have been as successful as it’s obviously been. In fact, it’s been so successful, the Aquafina brand even appears on a line of “Advanced Hydration” skin care products.
It’s just like the story Dave Marinaccio tells: “perception is reality.” Aquafina sales were driven by the packaging…people got suckered by the label, and didn’t look at the fine print.
This isn’t to bash Aquafina specifically…I’m sure Dasani and other leading brands are really no better. PepsiCo isn’t doing anything different than thousands of other marketers do, in order to get you to buy their products. It’s not bad or wrong per se for a marketer to use awesome imagery on their labels or in the advertising for their products, but consumers shouldn’t assume these have any basis in reality.
