“Somehow, in the past five years the notion of “consumer choice” has morphed into a compulsion to bury consumers with options.[…]Years ago, you could put all the cola products in three feet of grocery shelf space. Now that will only hold the “diet, with lime” — which forms an endless chorus line with lemon, vanilla, cherry, diet, regular, and “remixed.” While the rationale may be “consumer choice,” it provides the dominant brands with a near-monopoly of invaluable space, virtually assuring that upstarts that might really represent new choices never see the retail light of day. […]The big losers in all this (besides my serenity) are advertisers. I simply don’t have time for them. Although I never once tuned into three-quarters of what comes through my digital cable box, I am still so overwhelmed by “choice” that I have to use those commercial breaks to find alternative content, which can mean online surfing with my Wi-Fi-ed laptop or reading a quick magazine story. No time for the magazine ads, the show is restarting!!!” (MediaDailyNews)
Läs också “Differentiate or Die” av Jack Trout. Siffrorna han visar på är markanta. En ordinär stormarknad för 40 000 artiklar. En normal familjs behov stillas av cirka 150 artiklar. Valmöjligheterna har blivit ett “tyranny of choice”. Till skillnad mot många kreativa reklamare menar Trout att det är livsavgörande för en produkt att hitta sin USP. Differentiering är allt.