"... i.e., when a brand positions itself as a small business and shows up on shelves as if it were small, even though it has probably been through at least one comfy fundraise and a hotshot General Catalyst VC sits on the board.... It’s up to the actual companies to decide on their values — Will the jarred condiment be woke, aligned with a cool chef, or 'artisanal' in some way? — but regardless of the chosen messaging, Instagram then takes over, drilling its users with targeted ads that help build a company’s story (Omsom lets you cook faster, for example; Momofuku’s noodles let you cook like David Chang). By the time a customer discovers an Instagram brand in a shoppy shop for the first time, it may even feel like a mirage: This chile crisp really exists just for me — it’s not only a story on my phone!"
The term "shoppy shops" refers to shops that sell these "smallwashed" products. We're told that the packaging is often designed by this place:
Gander. Should you click and take a gander at Gander? Yes, the design of the design firm's page includes big pictures of everyone on The Team, and it seems oddly humorous, like a Wes Anderson movie credits sequence.
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Do people really fall for this con?
Gander staff exactly matches the portrayal of the consulting firm staff in w1a (Brit comedy tv series)
Tito's Vodka is "homemade," and yet still you can buy it in every major city in every country I have ever visited. That's got to be some house.
Nothing about those products makes me think of small business. It just makes me think expensive.
In the 00s a local produce store got exposed as repackaging bulk jams/jellies under their own label. Owner claimed that people wanted the experience of buying local and the source of the product was irrelevant.
I realized he was righter than right.
I have no idea what this person is talking about. Maybe my town isn't cosmopolitan enough. The cute shops here and their wares don't look the same at all. If I must use the word "smallwash" (it sounds like laundry day for your underwear), then I guess redneck flyover country is better at it.
Friend of mine (actually a friend once-removed) loved Blue Moon beer and drank it for years and then found out it was just a Coors brand and was very disappointed. I don't know if he quit drinking it or not. That's the way some people think.
Haha, I love the poses of the team. The thick-browed woman, the woman with RBF, the man looking semi-surprised over his shoulder, the other man gazing off at 4 o'clock, the tousled hair and posed arms of the partner, and lastly the daintily-held sunglasses of the striped+abstract-pattern-dressed woman.
Wes Anderson couldn't cook up a bunch this ridiculous. Good callout, Althouse. This is why I have been here for 20-ish years. You still got it.
W1A clip on youtube
The Consulting Company brainstorming
"Haha, I love the poses of the team. The thick-browed woman, the woman with RBF, the man looking semi-surprised over his shoulder, the other man gazing off at 4 o'clock, the tousled hair and posed arms of the partner, and lastly the daintily-held sunglasses of the striped+abstract-pattern-dressed woman."
Ha ha.
Mike McVicar/Partner is the one I find funniest. Surreal, somehow.
Dave Begley said...
Do people really fall for this con?
Yes, Dave. The kids started it. They reject 'corporatism' as a virtue signal. Gillette is corporate greed so I buy my razors from a multi billion dollar company with marketing that makes them seem small.
The kids are too busy to check...
In Gibson's "Pattern Recognition", the protagonist is a brand consultant with a serious allergy to brand logos. She consults with a firm, "Blue Ant", which Gander appears to be a clone of.
I recommend it. Gibson's metaphor for jet-lag is worth the price of admission.
McVicar kind of looks like he's holding a pose and thinking, "I look silly, don't I?" He looks like he belongs in a British sitcom, but that may just be because he resembles John Cleese.
And don't overlook Phaedra, the designer with the banana earrings, cartilage piercing, and expensive but cheap-looking t-shirt.
In mythology, by the way, Phaedra was a queen who falsely accused her stepson of rape and thereby got him killed. She may have been acting under a compulsion forced on her by the gods, though.
"McVicar kind of looks like he's holding a pose and thinking, "I look silly, don't I?" He looks like he belongs in a British sitcom, but that may just be because he resembles John Cleese."
I was getting: Armond from The White Lotus.
Positioning a product as a 'discovery brand' is a pretty old strategy yet still effective. Especially among college-educated people who consider themselves immune to 'marketing'.
Wasn't there a story a few days ago about employees demanding the right not to participate in their company's "fun" activities? Maybe they should be fighting against having to pose as hipster dufuses.
Gander seems like a place where everyone pretends to be more creative, more fun, and more interesting than they really are. You'll probably find more fascinating people in Gander, Newfoundland.
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream — sounds like a pop & pop shop.
Take a gander at Gander. Geese not required.
You have to wonder if Gander's description of itself is just as phony as the brand concepts it creates for its clients. They could just be another corporate ad agency that wants to appear local or downscale in order to seem hip.
All of this reminds me of the Simpson's episode where we find the secret formula for Duff beer is Schlitz plus water.
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