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Previous: Wayport wireless | Main | Next: Philips mobile phone
March 10, 2005 12:05 AM
Broken: Fish-nuggets packaging
Jake Watrous writes:
I find it a bit un-Disneyish and disturbing to see a box of fish nuggets decorated with Ariel: the Little Mermaid and her fish friends. The only worse idea would be a clownfish-decorated box of Nemo Nuggets!
[Not only that - but what's "dooz"? Is that like "fish dooz"? -mh]
This is almost as disturbing as the Pizza Hut ad where Miss Piggy chows down on a slice with pepperoni.
Yeah, everyone wants to see their favorite fish portrayed as fish sticks.
You are right, what is a dooz? The spelling is bad enough, but what word is that?!?!?!?!?
"This is almost as disturbing as the Pizza Hut ad where Miss Piggy chows down on a slice with pepperoni."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't pepperoni lamb?
Pepperoni is a sausage made from a combination of pork and beef.
As for the packaging being broken, I don't see how the customer experience is negative here. These are cartoon fish after all, and strange contradictions in cartoons is not unusual. Drawing from another area of Disney, Mickey's pal Goofy is a dog, yet Mickey also has a pet, Pluto, who is also a dog.
When you eat fish, you are eating fish. When you eat pepperoni, you are eating pigs. When you eat a hamburger, you are eating a cow. These are unavoidable facts. The only thing "broken" is our tendency to *forget* that processed and packaged meat products are in fact from slaughtered animals. So there is no reason to get upset when we realize this fact, unless you don't want to kill the cute little animals, in which case you can just stop eating meat. It's all very simple but for some reason people are suprised when some coincidence like this reveals it...
If you're going to pluralize "dipsy do" and be fanciful about it, I guess this is the way one dooz it. Throw in the word "sea" to evoke seafood, and change the spelling of "dos" so everybody pronounces it right the first time. I just don't know what a "dipsy do" is.
Now, what's with that "Serving Suggestion" label that the lawyers added? Is there something in that photo of the pile of food that's not in the box? Is it the plate/doily thing?
yes meat comes from animals... BUT, most people dont eat animals that we have attached a bond to like a pet, so to eat somthing we vew as a pet is in fact kinda dusurbing.
I liked how an old Cheestring commercial tackled this cognitive dissonance head on. You see, there's a bunch of cartoon cheese strings, and they're having a concert inside the fridge.
They're rocking out and signing about how great tasting and nutritious they are, when suddenly the door opens and a giant hand grabs the terrified lead guitarist, and consumes him.
I understand the fish theme that Disney is doing here, but I don't figure Ariel would endorse us eating her pals, unless she's some cannibal of sorts (that'll be the next movie out). Disney should have used Pirates of the Carribean instead. On another note: I also think that children under 10 should not be allowed in grocery stores.
The funny thing here is not that there is a picture of a fish, a crab, and a mermaid on a box of fish sticks, but that they all look so happy to see their little fish buddies chopped up and deep fried.
Hamburgers may be made out of cows, and sausage may be made out of pigs, but you don't usually see pictures of happy little cows and pigs on the packaging for hamburger meat and sausage.
For me, it's usually better *not* to think about the animal I'm about to eat.
i wouldnt want my kid thinking that someone has killed his favorite cartoon character and then even worse, that i have forced him to eat it.
I don't think I have ever seen a point belabored as much as this one. This blog is loozing its light hearted mood and gadflyish nature. I hardly see anything broken here anymore. Hey it's not my blog but isn't this off point a bit and many of the last dozen or so? Or am I just singing the blooz?
Consider that 99% of the target market for this product are mindless drones. Their kids see the picture and that's the sell. From the mindless prospective it's fish and is good for their off-spring (regardless of the fact it's deep fried) and they immediately buy 6 boxes cause they know their off-spring will eat it provided they smother it in ketchup.
Why does everyone keep saying this is fish? It's most likely textured soy protein, in which case it's not offensive at all!!(Except for the taste)
What does Ariel and her crew eat? Beef or chicken?
They are just happy it is not them in the carton!
If you look at the picture it almost looks like ariel is holding the plate of fish nuggets so it looks like she is presenting her fish friends to you that have been fried up.
Well, about the pic of Ariel and friends on the Fish nuggets, my brother told me that they did in fact "Find Nemo"......He's at a suchi bar in downtown Chicago....
Well, about the pic of Ariel and friends on the Fish nuggets, my brother told me that they did in fact "Find Nemo"......He's at a sushi bar in downtown Chicago....
Two double posts in 3 hours?
This assumes kids won't make the connection between Ariel and fish sticks.
One can only laugh... It's advertising and it's working... This thing has alot of people worked up and well all know that bad advertising is just as good as good advertising. Sometimes better, think about it. How many times have we all talked about something that we seen that is stupid, absurd or ridiculus we talk about those things. On the other hand, we don't too often about the good ads or campaigns.
So, I see this campaign doing exactly what it is intended to do. Get your attention!
My opinion on the campaign. We are carnivors and we will always be carnivors. I would not buy this because of the picture. I would buy it because it was the best choice. If I were looking for fish sticks. In other words what is the big deal? Who cares, and if this really bothers you don't buy it. Then they will have to do something different.
I'm sure this will make a few mad. So be it, I'm good at doing just that. Let's get back to the "No punches pulled" state of mind instead of "Don't say or do that someone might be offended" Grow UP!
What's your problem. Kids are entitled to some character endorsement now and then. This is not broken because they are making the connection for the fish sticks and Ariel's fish friends. Also, about the name. It's so that kids who watch the little mermaid [ages 2-7] can have a nice name to roll along on their tounges. Admit it, when you were kids you probably would have preferred " Dip Sea Dooz" over "Gorton's 100% Fish Sticks." Some people are really desperate now-a-days.
What's your problem. Kids are entitled to some character endorsement now and then. This is not broken because they are making the connection for the fish sticks and Ariel's fish friends. Also, about the name. It's so that kids who watch the little mermaid [ages 2-7] can have a nice name to roll along on their tounges. Admit it, when you were kids you probably would have preferred " Dip Sea Dooz" over "Gorton's 100% Fish Sticks." Some people are really desperate now-a-days.
"Jake Watrous writes:
I find it a bit un-Disneyish and disturbing to see a box of fish nuggets decorated with Ariel: the Little Mermaid and her fish friends. The only worse idea would be a clownfish-decorated box of Nemo Nuggets!"
i dont see how this is un-disneyish at all, im sure alot of people know what they did with the first version of the VHS box for the little mermaid, considering there was a recall on the item. Besides, who would'nt want to eat Ariel's friends?
I might be wrong on this because I haven't actually consumed any frozen fish-like foodstuffs since I was about 5, but aren't most fish sticks and products made of "white fish" actually a combination of fish that are white, including flounder., scrod, etc? Ironic package design considering the yellow and blue fish character _was_ a flounder. I guess people don't actually have to tell their kids that they're eating fish at all...the name dip sea dooz certainly doesn't give it away.
The fish content is Alaska Pollock. It's white, tasteless, odorless, and perfect for fishwiches and products like this. It's also being overfished, like everything else, so the industry eventually will have to move on to some other fish to eradicate.
http://www.americanprideseafoods.com/APS-Disney/ingredients-cooking.htm (scroll down to Dip Sea Dooz)
Matchu, I want to make this clear once and for all: under no circumstances do I want you to animals.
there *is* cognitive dissonance between making friends of animals and then eating them ... last big media example i remember was the chicken nuggets promo for the chicken run movie ... love the chickens, eat the nuggets
and of course there are all the classic labels of happy dancing pigs on cans of pork ... why? i don't know. but it's weird.
it's also weird that kiddy picture books over and over stress how cute our animal friends are ... cows, pigs, chickens ... but then kids grow up and eat them ... are usa kiddy books the only ones to anthropomorphize farm animals or is it done in other cultures?
eat animals and honor their spirit or don't eat animals or eat animals and ignore them ... but don't mix those approaches
my 3 cents
Well, ever see neopets? so cute and innocent. then you play a few of the games there, like the one where you feed the neopets to a monster. theres also some hidden flash movie were one of these pets is attacked as another runs off. Things like this happen all the time, and its quite distrubing.
In a blind taste test, 4 out of 5 kids were able to tell which nuggets were made from Ariel and which one were made from Flounder.
Dip Sea Dooz maybe a play on the saying "dipsy doodles"? Now, don't ask me what a doodle is...I don't think I want to go there....(shudder)
Comments on this entry are closed
Previous: Wayport wireless | Main | Next: Philips mobile phone
First off, how is this broken? It's obviously marketed to kids, who will see it when they go to the supermarket with their parents and beg for them to buy it - that's why Ariel's on the box cover. Same reason for Dip See Dooz - sounds like it was used to appeal to kids. On a side note, the only use I've heard of for Dip See Dooz is if you're driving, and you hit a dip in the road a bit too fast.
Posted by: Ryan Freedman at March 10, 2005 05:20 AM