"Who cares about the packaging?"

Some poor reporting from CNN that unintentionally makes a great point:

Embedded video from CNN Video

The 4 minute report emphasizes on a sense of great mystery as to why consumers are so unhappy with the new packaging. The reporters discuss consumers wanting a sense of control in an unstable economy, etc. etc. That's just mumble jumble. The fact of the matter is clear: consumers want the orange with the straw. What seems to baffle the reporters even more is why the consumers want that image back. While Linda Kaplan Thalers goes on about how the straw in the orange represents pure and nautural juice what she is really missing is the fact that the orange with the straw is Tropicana's brand symbol. This symbol evokes brand recoginition with the consumer. So while it may very well represent pure juice, to consumers it represents much more. It evokes the familiarity of thebrand with which consumers have built a trusting relationship. Tropicana without its straw-in-orange is Target without its bullseye, Nike without its Swoosh, and Tiffany without its blue box.

I still like the new look for Tropicana, but then again - I don't even drink orange juice.