Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Jello Waste

This post is fondly dedicated to the creative individual who came up with the design of those beautiful jello plastic molds that makes approximately 5-6% of the total jello consumption in the world be wasted in the name of Design. Yes people, Design with a capital D.

For some reason, in the last couple of months my consumption of jello has increased, and therefore I have had the chance to observe how much of it is wasted due to the elegant shape of the jello containers. For you to be able to empty the whole thing, you need to a) have plenty of time and patience, b) find the appropriate spoon and c) be very skillful with the later.

First I thought it was the brand I was choosing for convenience, (i.e. the one being sold in the closest mini market), but now, after trying most of the brands out there, I have concluded they all hired the same Designer.



As you must imagine, these results really perplexed me and I started questioning.. whats the meaning of that shape? Is there any Machiavellian plan behind it?

One of my thesis was that the molds were shaped like that to generate a feeling of insatiability in the consumers, and instead of buying one, they would end up buying two (or more).. but that thesis was rapidly proven wrong when I conducted an extensive market research surveying random jello consumers. 98.9% of them responded that they would still stick to ONE jello.

For cases like this, I simply reckon that I have to come to my knowledge fountain, which of course means the Absolut Blogshit crew.

What is it with these jello molds?



3 Comments:

Blogger Hanna said...

Interesting case. Based on my experience designers, due to their creativity, are themselves good bullshitters. Who would otherwise design these small jeans we have to wear that we cant close? Or the plastic cups with the plastic lids which should keep the coffee in the mug (which it does when you walk with the cup), but as soon as you start drinking you have coffee all over your (in 95% of these cases) white shirt?

Me myself and I havent tried the jello, but Im just assuming that a bullshitter has also played a part in this design. Probably he for not any specific reasons (such as to sell more jellos or try new concepts), is laughing his ass off everytime you leave 6-7 % of the jello in the container. Cause that is what as bullshitters would do. Find a meaning in nothing, and also find it funny!

So I cant call for any revolution against jello designers in this case. However I would encourage all jello eaters/designers/eaters to be to have jello shots instead, since you then would
1) have jello
2) have alcohol
3) have a shot which is a fun way of drinking alcohol (at least the moment when it happens not the day after)

On that note, I'll go for a shot!

Jelly yours
Hanna

22/2/06 14:21  
Blogger Jonas Ã…radsson said...

Good point Hanna, all though I think the reason behind the shape of the molds shall be found elsewhere.

Why do we (Angie) eat jello? Or why do we in general like eating small - more or less - indifferent snacks? Because its fun, in some cases because it tastes good, but in most cases we do it cause we want a break from whatever we are doing.

And so my point is that - whether the jello is eaten during a working break, during a boring lecture at a university or while writing a post for Absolut Blogshit - it would be extremely dissapointing if it was done too fast. We like to dig into strange corners of the mold to find just a little bit more jello, its part of why we buy the jello and it would really take some of the excitement out of the daily jello-break if it was possible to eat it fast and effective.

Fast and effective, two words that are banned from Absolut Blogshit like Mohammed-cartoons from an iranian newspaper.

On that note, I would buy five and have entertainment for a whole lecture on Algorithms and Data Structures.

22/2/06 15:17  
Blogger Sharmin said...

Hey SidP.
Yours is a really great blog. Something which I can go through when I have tough times struggling with aiesec.net or with those "matches" which has become a never-ending cult for me...hehehe.
Yes, I'll surely keep on sharing my experiences in this wonderful country. Please let me know what "you" wanna know about this country......"anything".

22/2/06 21:44  

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