As soon as I heard the word "blog" as opposed to "formal paper" mentioned on the first day of this course, my heart was filled with joy. After taking an extremely arduous physiology course crammed into 6 weeks, I was in dire need of a break. I naively welcomed this "easy class" and imagined all of the things I would be free to do during what I expected to be a very relaxing second summer session.
I could not have been more wrong in my expectations.
As mentioned in my first post, I used to be very fond of writing. But, after nearly a decade of rules, techniques, rules, research reports, and more rules, I found myself "over-taught". My ability to write slipped away. Somewhere along the path of my academic career, I had lost my identity as I writer. In the last three years, I have written countless essays and research papers for various courses. With each and every one, I would struggle to write the first sentence. All of the sentences that followed were equally difficult to force out. After several hours, I'd find myself with two paragraphs written. I'd read them, become highly dissatisfied with the writing, and delete the whole thing only to start the entire process over again. Every paper I turned in was a disappointment. I got the grades I needed, but my writing was embarrassing.
Excited about the prospect of an "easy" course, I went into the first few classes bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I was very pleased with the long discussions that were almost always about things that truly mattered to me. And, it was exactly this that made the course difficult. Prompts were fairly open-ended and I had to write about things that I genuinely cared about. Even worse, there was no right answer. I was free to opine that which I truly believed without fear of the dreaded letter 'F' from a disagreeable TA. Passion about the class topics as well as freedom (note how I am extensively using the word "I") forced me to find the identity I had lost.
In writing about that which I was passionate about, I felt a deep obligation to write well – or at least, better than how I had written in the past. But, decent writing takes serious time and care; soon, this "easy" class and the required blog posts were completely consuming my afternoons, evenings, and energy. I began having trouble getting up in the morning and found myself struggling to stay awake during the day. Despite these negative consequences, this class was worth it; I could write again. Not once did I find myself staring hopelessly at a cold white rectangle with a tiny blinking line that seemed to command the word "write!" with each blink. For the first time in years, the white rectangle was warm, welcoming, and quickly filled with words. The endless revisions no longer seemed so endless (although there were plenty of them). And, the end result was no longer something that caused me shame and embarrassment. Instead, each blog post brought me satisfaction and sometimes a bit of pride.
This difficult course helped me re-gain my ability to write. Although I am pleased with this newly found ability, I do not expect it to completely alter my life. However, there is something truly magical about the phrase "strong writing skills" no longer being a complete lie on my resumé.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Green
The word green has long been associated with living plants and nature. It is a relative of the Old English word growan, which means "to grow". Centuries ago, green (often spelled as "grene" or "greene" back then) was the word that described the color of living plants. In the year 1390, John Gower poetically described "the tree with leves grene, Upon the which no fruit is sene" in Confessio amantis. And 200 years later, Edmund Spenser wrote of a "dainty place..Planted with mirtle trees and laurells greene".
Astoundingly, the word green is mainly used in the the exact same way it was used roughly 600 years ago. The OED defines green as "the adjective denoting the color which in the spectrum is intermediate between blue and yellow; in nature chiefly conspicuous as the color of growing herbage and leaves". However, green does not only connote some form of nature; throughout the centuries, the word green has gained a great variety of other meanings.
The wearing of a green gown was used to signify the dress of a promiscuous woman. This is due to the fact that sexual activities held outdoors may result in grass stains on the clothing. In that time, a man may have boasted to his friends about giving a lady a green gown. While this use is now defunct, it still survives in the famous (and very old) English folk song entitled "Greensleeves" where a man bemoans rejection from the "lover" that has so "enraptured" him and has long been his "joy" and "delight"; the fact that the subject is called "Greensleeves" reveals that the song is about a sexual (as opposed platonic) relationship with what was likely considered to be a woman with questionable morals.
Green was also used to describe fleeting, intangible things like memories or age; this is seen in the term green old age. The use of green in this manner reached its peak in the 19th century and is no longer used such a way today. The same goes for the term green hand which was used to describe inexperienced people or untrained animals. However, while the term itself is no longer used, highly similar uses of the word green still survive today.
Since the origin of the word, green has been used to describe fruits and nuts that are young, tender, and unripe. Similarly, green has been used to describe people exhibiting qualities associated with youth. In 1818, Edward Scott captured this alternate meaning when he wrote "your greener age and robust constitution promise longer life". In 1585, Thomas Washington wrote of people that were "young of yeeres and age, they should also bee greene of sense and judgment" and thus captured a more negative and potentially insulting meaning of the word green.
Green is also used to describe the complexion of those who are sick. This is likely due to the fact that certain illnesses will cause people to exhibit green (or yellow) jaundice where the skin actually does appear somewhat greenish. In 1525, John Berners described a sick duke as being "waxed pale and grene as a lefe". Because the word sick is not solely used to describe those afflicted with actual illness, but also negative emotions, the word green is applied to those "sick" with jealousy, fear, ill-humor, or other negative emotions. With this in mind, it is not surprising that the cliché "green with envy" has existed since, at the very least, the 1500s.
To this very day, green is gaining new meanings. In the early 20th century, people who were unusually good at gardening where said to have a "green thumb". This usage is based around the word's association with nature and plants and is still used today. Another recent usage is the word green as a synonym for money (specifically the United States dollar). Seen when some individuals proclaim that "it's all about the green", such a usage is likely due to the fact that paper money in the United States is often green. Green's association with money has also linked it to capitalism, globalization, and greed. On a much different note, the green is used to describe the grass on a golf course. But, perhaps this usage of the word green is not that far from the usage of green as a synonym for money; golf is often associated with capitalism due to the fact that many business deals are said to take place on a golf course.
One of the newest terms associated with the word green is the green movement which began in the 1970s. The term green movement describes the increasing support of so-called “environmentalism”. Members of the green movement claim to lead “environment-friendly” or “green” lives by attempting to live in what they perceive as a way to inflict minimal harm on the environment. In this context, the word green is used to describe anything (often products or services) that is labeled as “earth/eco/environment-friendly”. Members of the green movement would consider the crux of this movement to be Mother Nature; therefore, green, a word that has been closely tied with nature for the last 600 years, makes an apt title for such a movement.
However, it is this incredibly popular movement itself that is causing the word green to loose its original identity. Instead of being associated with the true, wild, untamed-by-human-hands nature that our ancestors lived and coped with every single day, the green movement is causing the word green to be more associated with virtual nature. What is virtual nature? Virtual nature is an intangible, man-made tool. It is used in order to appeal to consumers in capitalist countries. These consumers tend to have lives that are very disconnected from nature. They tend to live in cities, suburbs, and even small towns. In fact, anyone who is reading this at the moment (me included) probably falls into this category. We do not rely on the earth the same way our ancestors did; because of globalization, we do not have to worry about starvation or drought due to bad weather or an unsuccessful harvest in our area. If something goes wrong with our local crops, we can get the food we need from somewhere else. If it doesn't rain, we can divert water from somewhere else. There is always a distant "somewhere else" that gives us what we need. And there is always a "they" that gets what we need to us.
The consumer's connection to nature is best described as extremely indirect. And, whatever nature we do connect with (not by necessity but often for recreation) is connected with via some form of travel. Because of massive habitat (habitat as a synonym for the flora of the earth in its untamed form [e.g. nature]) destruction, we do not live within nature. When we want to see it, we must physically go to it. For us, nature isn't here – it's somewhere else.
Perhaps it is the distance and disconnect, both physically and mentally, that give nature and the word green its allure. Or maybe it is some kind of basal desire to return to our wilder, more animalistic roots. Either way, many of us are truly enthralled by nature. At the very least, it gets our attention because it is something different, something outside of this "civilization" bubble that we live in. And many of us know, whether we are willing to admit it or not, that nature is in peril due to human activities.
Somehow, whilst living in and expanding our civilization bubble by reproducing (euphemistically known as "starting a family") and doing our best to give our children their own piece of the human civilization bubble (also known as "living the American dream"), we seek to save nature. But, conservation and urban sprawl are mutually exclusive phenomena. It is our activities, our creations, our expansion that is behind the number one threat to the flora and fauna that compose nature: habitat destruction.
Our desires are ironic, but strong, and companies seek to capitalize on them. They inundate us with images and sounds of nature through our TVs, computers, radios, books, magazines, and all other forms of media; this is virtual nature. Over and over they call their products "green" implying that they are "eco-friendly" while exposing us to virtual nature. Companies hope that we will forget the "virtual" part and believe their false claims. The fact of the matter is that no car, no cleaning product, no appliance, no shirt, no canvas bag, no anything made by human hands is "green". Anything we make requires two things: resources and space. To gain these two essential ingredients, we must take the resources and make the space via some degree of not-so-eco-friendly destruction of nature.
Studies have shown that if someone is exposed to a claim repeatedly, over time, they will tend to believe that claim. Because companies heighten the effectiveness of their advertisements through the use of virtual nature; it is likely that the average person is exposed to virtual nature in conjunction with the word green several times per day. This, as well as our disconnected, "civilized" lifestyles are spurring the loss of that which green originally connoted.
The human population of the earth is about 6.7 billion. At the current rate of growth, the population will be nearly 9 billion in 2050. That's a 34% jump in population size in less than 50 years; human population growth is truly exponential. Considering the fact that enormous advances in medicine are being made practically by the day, this figure is likely an underestimate. With so many people on this planet trying to live what we perceive as normal, happy lives, it is likely that we will push nature to the brink. Perhaps the shift in the meaning and connotation of the word green is suitable for the modern world. By 2050, with 9 billion people on this planet, it is likely that virtual nature will be the only form of nature that we have. It seems as if it would make the most sense for green to be associated with that which actually still exists, even if it is merely virtual.
Astoundingly, the word green is mainly used in the the exact same way it was used roughly 600 years ago. The OED defines green as "the adjective denoting the color which in the spectrum is intermediate between blue and yellow; in nature chiefly conspicuous as the color of growing herbage and leaves". However, green does not only connote some form of nature; throughout the centuries, the word green has gained a great variety of other meanings.
The wearing of a green gown was used to signify the dress of a promiscuous woman. This is due to the fact that sexual activities held outdoors may result in grass stains on the clothing. In that time, a man may have boasted to his friends about giving a lady a green gown. While this use is now defunct, it still survives in the famous (and very old) English folk song entitled "Greensleeves" where a man bemoans rejection from the "lover" that has so "enraptured" him and has long been his "joy" and "delight"; the fact that the subject is called "Greensleeves" reveals that the song is about a sexual (as opposed platonic) relationship with what was likely considered to be a woman with questionable morals.
Green was also used to describe fleeting, intangible things like memories or age; this is seen in the term green old age. The use of green in this manner reached its peak in the 19th century and is no longer used such a way today. The same goes for the term green hand which was used to describe inexperienced people or untrained animals. However, while the term itself is no longer used, highly similar uses of the word green still survive today.
Since the origin of the word, green has been used to describe fruits and nuts that are young, tender, and unripe. Similarly, green has been used to describe people exhibiting qualities associated with youth. In 1818, Edward Scott captured this alternate meaning when he wrote "your greener age and robust constitution promise longer life". In 1585, Thomas Washington wrote of people that were "young of yeeres and age, they should also bee greene of sense and judgment" and thus captured a more negative and potentially insulting meaning of the word green.
Green is also used to describe the complexion of those who are sick. This is likely due to the fact that certain illnesses will cause people to exhibit green (or yellow) jaundice where the skin actually does appear somewhat greenish. In 1525, John Berners described a sick duke as being "waxed pale and grene as a lefe". Because the word sick is not solely used to describe those afflicted with actual illness, but also negative emotions, the word green is applied to those "sick" with jealousy, fear, ill-humor, or other negative emotions. With this in mind, it is not surprising that the cliché "green with envy" has existed since, at the very least, the 1500s.
To this very day, green is gaining new meanings. In the early 20th century, people who were unusually good at gardening where said to have a "green thumb". This usage is based around the word's association with nature and plants and is still used today. Another recent usage is the word green as a synonym for money (specifically the United States dollar). Seen when some individuals proclaim that "it's all about the green", such a usage is likely due to the fact that paper money in the United States is often green. Green's association with money has also linked it to capitalism, globalization, and greed. On a much different note, the green is used to describe the grass on a golf course. But, perhaps this usage of the word green is not that far from the usage of green as a synonym for money; golf is often associated with capitalism due to the fact that many business deals are said to take place on a golf course.
One of the newest terms associated with the word green is the green movement which began in the 1970s. The term green movement describes the increasing support of so-called “environmentalism”. Members of the green movement claim to lead “environment-friendly” or “green” lives by attempting to live in what they perceive as a way to inflict minimal harm on the environment. In this context, the word green is used to describe anything (often products or services) that is labeled as “earth/eco/environment-friendly”. Members of the green movement would consider the crux of this movement to be Mother Nature; therefore, green, a word that has been closely tied with nature for the last 600 years, makes an apt title for such a movement.
However, it is this incredibly popular movement itself that is causing the word green to loose its original identity. Instead of being associated with the true, wild, untamed-by-human-hands nature that our ancestors lived and coped with every single day, the green movement is causing the word green to be more associated with virtual nature. What is virtual nature? Virtual nature is an intangible, man-made tool. It is used in order to appeal to consumers in capitalist countries. These consumers tend to have lives that are very disconnected from nature. They tend to live in cities, suburbs, and even small towns. In fact, anyone who is reading this at the moment (me included) probably falls into this category. We do not rely on the earth the same way our ancestors did; because of globalization, we do not have to worry about starvation or drought due to bad weather or an unsuccessful harvest in our area. If something goes wrong with our local crops, we can get the food we need from somewhere else. If it doesn't rain, we can divert water from somewhere else. There is always a distant "somewhere else" that gives us what we need. And there is always a "they" that gets what we need to us.
The consumer's connection to nature is best described as extremely indirect. And, whatever nature we do connect with (not by necessity but often for recreation) is connected with via some form of travel. Because of massive habitat (habitat as a synonym for the flora of the earth in its untamed form [e.g. nature]) destruction, we do not live within nature. When we want to see it, we must physically go to it. For us, nature isn't here – it's somewhere else.
Perhaps it is the distance and disconnect, both physically and mentally, that give nature and the word green its allure. Or maybe it is some kind of basal desire to return to our wilder, more animalistic roots. Either way, many of us are truly enthralled by nature. At the very least, it gets our attention because it is something different, something outside of this "civilization" bubble that we live in. And many of us know, whether we are willing to admit it or not, that nature is in peril due to human activities.
Somehow, whilst living in and expanding our civilization bubble by reproducing (euphemistically known as "starting a family") and doing our best to give our children their own piece of the human civilization bubble (also known as "living the American dream"), we seek to save nature. But, conservation and urban sprawl are mutually exclusive phenomena. It is our activities, our creations, our expansion that is behind the number one threat to the flora and fauna that compose nature: habitat destruction.
Our desires are ironic, but strong, and companies seek to capitalize on them. They inundate us with images and sounds of nature through our TVs, computers, radios, books, magazines, and all other forms of media; this is virtual nature. Over and over they call their products "green" implying that they are "eco-friendly" while exposing us to virtual nature. Companies hope that we will forget the "virtual" part and believe their false claims. The fact of the matter is that no car, no cleaning product, no appliance, no shirt, no canvas bag, no anything made by human hands is "green". Anything we make requires two things: resources and space. To gain these two essential ingredients, we must take the resources and make the space via some degree of not-so-eco-friendly destruction of nature.
Studies have shown that if someone is exposed to a claim repeatedly, over time, they will tend to believe that claim. Because companies heighten the effectiveness of their advertisements through the use of virtual nature; it is likely that the average person is exposed to virtual nature in conjunction with the word green several times per day. This, as well as our disconnected, "civilized" lifestyles are spurring the loss of that which green originally connoted.
The human population of the earth is about 6.7 billion. At the current rate of growth, the population will be nearly 9 billion in 2050. That's a 34% jump in population size in less than 50 years; human population growth is truly exponential. Considering the fact that enormous advances in medicine are being made practically by the day, this figure is likely an underestimate. With so many people on this planet trying to live what we perceive as normal, happy lives, it is likely that we will push nature to the brink. Perhaps the shift in the meaning and connotation of the word green is suitable for the modern world. By 2050, with 9 billion people on this planet, it is likely that virtual nature will be the only form of nature that we have. It seems as if it would make the most sense for green to be associated with that which actually still exists, even if it is merely virtual.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
LightFull the Satiety Smoothie
In 1987, a 16-year-old girl in Fountain Valley, California found out she was pregnant. Despite her young age, irresponsible boyfriend, and highly disapproving father, the girl decided that she was going to have the baby and keep it. Several months later, in what my mom describes the most painful event of her entire life, I was born.
Everyone who saw my pregnant mother thought that I'd be a boy; my mom had planned on naming me "Ryan". Friends and family gave my mom blue and red onesies, baby t-shirts, and shorts at the baby shower held prior to my birth. In fact, many early photos of me show me wearing the aforementioned "boy clothes" despite my female gender. The incorrect assumption about my gender was spurred by one simple fact: my mom was enormous during the pregnancy. She ended up gaining 75 pounds – a very large amount of weight for a petite 16-year-old. Friends and family interpreted the huge weight gain as a sign of a male child.
After I was born, what I call the "perpetual diet" began as my mom struggled to loose the weight she gained. Since then and throughout my entire life outside of the womb, my mom has been on a diet. Despite having long lost all of the weight she gained during pregnancy, my mom continues to diet. And the diet never ever ends.
Ergo, I have become far too familiar with practically any diet food or product that you can conceive of. While I was growing up, my mom was particularly partial to diet yogurts and smoothies. I have a surprisingly large amount of childhood memories of my mom organizing all her diet smoothies in the fridge after a trip to the grocery store. Thus, when I see these, I become quite nostalgic:
The product in the picture is a "satiety smoothie" called "LightFull". I always see these next to the yogurts, cheeses, and other dairy products towards the back of the supermarket. Unlike dairy products aimed towards children (like Gogurt and Trix yogurt), these smoothies tend to be located upon the very top few shelves at an adult's eye level. LightFull shares a nearly identical form as the products my mom enjoyed throughout my childhood.
The colors are bright and warm. Red and light yellow appear to be the dominant colors. Much of the red is contained in an image of a pile of ripe strawberries at the base of the bottle. The strawberry image appears to have been heavily altered via photo-editing software. The contrast has been increased causing the strawberries to appear unnaturally shiny and clean. And the saturation has also been increased to make the red of the strawberries even redder and the green leaves atop the strawberries rather yellowish. Such corrections further add to the warmth of the colors.
Against the red of the strawberries is a white label proclaiming that the smoothie contains a whopping 5 grams of fiber and protein. This white label stands out against the red strawberry image in the background. Above it, the words "strawberry bliss" also stand out, but in a different way; the words are white upon a strawberry-red background that is difficult to distinguish from the strawberries themselves when viewed from afar. Thus, it is mostly the "strawberry bliss" wording that stands out.
Above the strawberries, there is a small image that does not seem to fit will with the warm, strawberry-focused theme apparent on the rest of the bottle's front: a comically thin woman drawn in cool black and white appears to be in the process of leaping. In my eyes, it seems so visually out of place and unexpected, that I didn't notice it until I got home (when I first glanced at it, I thought it was writing). The woman has long, flowing hair and is wearing over-sized shorts and a tank top, not a dress, and tennis shoes with socks. Based on her outfit, perhaps she is jogging or exercising (which is likely considering that this is a diet beverage). Her hands are raised above her head as she appears to be juggling a tiny money bag, book, clock, and house.
The words "Surprisingly Filling", "Satiety Smoothie", "LightFULL" and "ALL NATURAL 90 LITTLE CALORIES"seemed to be stacked below the cap. The different-sized font and curvature of the letters causes this stack of words to form an upside-down triangle which is completed by the image of the leaping lady. This emphasizes the odd hourglass shape of the bottle, which, based on my experience with the beverage, does not exist for the purpose of allowing you to hold the bottle more easily. The "ALL NATURAL 90 LITTLE CALORIES" is in black and red, with the 90 in red and the rest in black; this causes the 90 to stand out the most. The phrase seems to seem a bit awkward in the context of all the titles because, if one reads top to bottom, it describes the product before you actually find out what the product is by reading the title. "LightFULL" and "Satiety Smoothie" have interesting coloration. Each is half in pink and half in red. This is the only place on the front of the bottle where a significant amount of a solid pink color appears. Interestingly, the "Light" part of "LightFULL" is pink, which can also be described as light red. The "Satiety" part of "Satiety Smoothie" is also pink, but unlike the "Light", it stands out much less because it is smaller and each letter is not outlined in red. The font of these two sets of words is very youthful looking; the curves of the letters are over-emphasized (especially that of the letter 'U'), the capitalization seems to alternate (which I did not completely capture in my typing because I'm unsure of what is supposed to be a capital letter and what is not due to the size of the letters), each line that would have been straight had this been Times New Roman font is slightly curved and has varying width. "Surprisingly Filling" is almost plain in appearance compared to all that's located above it, but somehow, this plainness draws the eye.
The wordy sides and back of the product echo the same visual themes seen on the front:
The right side of the product restates the title of the product and reiterates the points made on the front regarding nutrition. The left side states the meaning of satiety in simple, colloquial terms ("It means you're full") and contains a very promotional letter from the "LightFull Foods Co-founders") complete with illegible signatures. They claim that LightFull is a delicious, quick, easy, and very healthy food fix for busy women. The back of the product contains the typical nutrition information box that we see on almost all of our food products. The nutrition facts provide solid evidence for the claim that the product is healthy. Above the nutrition facts are directions in the same goofy, youthful font as is seen on the front. These directions command the consumer to shake before drinking and refrigerate the product. They also command the consumer to "Achieve Satiety" presumably by drinking the satiety smoothie.
I opened the bottle expecting a thick, pink, yogurt-y smoothie with bits of strawberry in it. Instead I got an almost transparent beige beverage that was the consistency of water. This texture and appearance coupled with the grossly sweet "strawberry" flavor made for a disgusting beverage. I felt full afterwards, but it was they way you feel full after seeing someone throw up; you're so disgusted that you don't feel in the mood for food.
Diet products have a bad reputation for tasting gross and my experience with this product definitely corroborated this. Thus, many companies choose to use euphemisms for "diet": "sugar free", "light", "low calorie", "healthy", "zero calories", and even "all natural" are common euphemisms. LightFull is doing the same thing when they state that their product is a "Satiety Smoothie". The word "diet" cannot be found anywhere on this bottle. Instead I only find a few of the euphemisms for the word "diet" mentioned above.
Because of the grossness associated with diet foods, it is in LightFull Food's best interest to portray their product as not only euphemistically diet but also delicious and appetizing. And indeed, nearly every single aspect of the front of the product is there to convey either of the above. It is astounding how well thought out the packaging of the product is. Warm colors like red and yellow have long been thought by scientists to arouse hunger. Cooler colors often do the opposite; studies show that people who eat food off of blue plates will eat less than those eating off of yellow plates. The strawberries, which contribute to much of the red on the bottle, are graphically altered so that they look more appetizing. They are made more red and they are very clean looking. Studies show that people highly prefer to eat food that is the correct color; a picture of a blue, green, or purple strawberry will seem highly unappetizing unlike the red strawberry. Thus, the red of the strawberries is emphasized. Imagine if the image of the strawberries showed that the strawberries were dusty or had dirt on them; how appetizing would that be? Thus the strawberries are made to look almost squeaky clean. And on the strawberries, "Strawberry Bliss" is written. To me, this implies that the beverage is just so delicious that it will induce a state of bliss from the strawberry taste alone. This along with the strawberry image is what bolstered my expectation of a pink beverage with strawberry bits in it; it's what I'm used to getting from tasty strawberry-flavored dairy products. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met with this product. But I'm sure I would have been less disappointed (and also less willing to drink the beverage) if they'd shown the brown wateriness that the smoothie actually was.
The image of the woman serves several purposes. Based on her outfit, it appears that she is exercising in some way which delicately conveys that the product is a diet beverage. She is simultaneously juggling symobls of money, work (or school), time, and home. Based on her huge smile, she looks like she's having a good time doing so, despite that fact that she appears to be in quite a hurry. In a way, LightFull Foods is saying "we understand you". They use this little picture to convey "diet" along with the ideas that modern women have many roles that they must juggle in order to live their lives: wife, employee, mother, caretaker, student, etc. LightFull Foods shows a woman literally juggling symbols of all of these roles and difficulties. The literal interpretation of the word "juggle" (which is often used when describing busy people) conveys that although the woman is smiling, her life is tough. Apparently, LightFull Foods wants you to know that they understand your struggles. Apparently, they understand that it's hard to juggle all of your different roles and duties in today's world. Apparently, they understand that this makes it hard for many women to diet. LightFull Food's solution and answer to dieting women's troubles: a satiety smoothie. The sides of the bottle underscores my point; in the letter to the consumer, the founders begin by saying "All our lives we've longed for a convenient snack that helps us stay healthy [diet euphemism] while juggling life's responsibilities [LightFull Foods apparently understands]. That's why we created LightFull Satiety Smoothie [now buy our product!]..."
"ALL NATURAL 90 LITTLE CALORIES", "Satiety Smoothie", and "Surprisingly Filling" are direct euphemisms for the fact that the product is a diet beverage that is meant to decrease hunger so that the consumer eats less and looses weight. Even the shape of the bottle itself shows this. It's hourglass-shaped – the same shape that's often described as the most desirable female body shape there is. Many dieting women will describe how their "shooting for that perfect hourglass figure". And LightFull Foods hints that if you drink their smoothie, that shape is attainable. They'll even remind you of what it looks like by making the bottle an hourglass shape.
Finally, the title of the product along with the appearance of that title practically scream "delicious diet food". The "Light" part of "LightFULL" on the front is lighter in color than the red seen on the rest of the bottle. This serves to visually communicate the diet euphemism "light". The "FULL" part of "LightFULL" is in all capital letters. These large, full letters communicate the feeling of satiety. Fullness is directly reiterated in the "Satiety Smoothie" part via the word "satiety". Also, the word "smoothie" is used (as opposed to beverage) in order to make the product more appetizing an dessert-like. Further underscoring the claim that the product is pleasant and delicious is the way the name of the product sounds. Say "LightFull" outloud and try saying the letter "d" in front of it. It sounds like "delightful"; in fact, it's only one phonetic syllable away from actually being the word "delightful". Unfortunately, this so-called smoothie is far from the delightfully delicious satiety smoothie that LightFull Foods tries so hard to make it appear to be. Perhaps "SguSting" would be a more honest name for this product.
Everyone who saw my pregnant mother thought that I'd be a boy; my mom had planned on naming me "Ryan". Friends and family gave my mom blue and red onesies, baby t-shirts, and shorts at the baby shower held prior to my birth. In fact, many early photos of me show me wearing the aforementioned "boy clothes" despite my female gender. The incorrect assumption about my gender was spurred by one simple fact: my mom was enormous during the pregnancy. She ended up gaining 75 pounds – a very large amount of weight for a petite 16-year-old. Friends and family interpreted the huge weight gain as a sign of a male child.
After I was born, what I call the "perpetual diet" began as my mom struggled to loose the weight she gained. Since then and throughout my entire life outside of the womb, my mom has been on a diet. Despite having long lost all of the weight she gained during pregnancy, my mom continues to diet. And the diet never ever ends.
Ergo, I have become far too familiar with practically any diet food or product that you can conceive of. While I was growing up, my mom was particularly partial to diet yogurts and smoothies. I have a surprisingly large amount of childhood memories of my mom organizing all her diet smoothies in the fridge after a trip to the grocery store. Thus, when I see these, I become quite nostalgic:
The product in the picture is a "satiety smoothie" called "LightFull". I always see these next to the yogurts, cheeses, and other dairy products towards the back of the supermarket. Unlike dairy products aimed towards children (like Gogurt and Trix yogurt), these smoothies tend to be located upon the very top few shelves at an adult's eye level. LightFull shares a nearly identical form as the products my mom enjoyed throughout my childhood.
The colors are bright and warm. Red and light yellow appear to be the dominant colors. Much of the red is contained in an image of a pile of ripe strawberries at the base of the bottle. The strawberry image appears to have been heavily altered via photo-editing software. The contrast has been increased causing the strawberries to appear unnaturally shiny and clean. And the saturation has also been increased to make the red of the strawberries even redder and the green leaves atop the strawberries rather yellowish. Such corrections further add to the warmth of the colors.
Against the red of the strawberries is a white label proclaiming that the smoothie contains a whopping 5 grams of fiber and protein. This white label stands out against the red strawberry image in the background. Above it, the words "strawberry bliss" also stand out, but in a different way; the words are white upon a strawberry-red background that is difficult to distinguish from the strawberries themselves when viewed from afar. Thus, it is mostly the "strawberry bliss" wording that stands out.
Above the strawberries, there is a small image that does not seem to fit will with the warm, strawberry-focused theme apparent on the rest of the bottle's front: a comically thin woman drawn in cool black and white appears to be in the process of leaping. In my eyes, it seems so visually out of place and unexpected, that I didn't notice it until I got home (when I first glanced at it, I thought it was writing). The woman has long, flowing hair and is wearing over-sized shorts and a tank top, not a dress, and tennis shoes with socks. Based on her outfit, perhaps she is jogging or exercising (which is likely considering that this is a diet beverage). Her hands are raised above her head as she appears to be juggling a tiny money bag, book, clock, and house.
The words "Surprisingly Filling", "Satiety Smoothie", "LightFULL" and "ALL NATURAL 90 LITTLE CALORIES"seemed to be stacked below the cap. The different-sized font and curvature of the letters causes this stack of words to form an upside-down triangle which is completed by the image of the leaping lady. This emphasizes the odd hourglass shape of the bottle, which, based on my experience with the beverage, does not exist for the purpose of allowing you to hold the bottle more easily. The "ALL NATURAL 90 LITTLE CALORIES" is in black and red, with the 90 in red and the rest in black; this causes the 90 to stand out the most. The phrase seems to seem a bit awkward in the context of all the titles because, if one reads top to bottom, it describes the product before you actually find out what the product is by reading the title. "LightFULL" and "Satiety Smoothie" have interesting coloration. Each is half in pink and half in red. This is the only place on the front of the bottle where a significant amount of a solid pink color appears. Interestingly, the "Light" part of "LightFULL" is pink, which can also be described as light red. The "Satiety" part of "Satiety Smoothie" is also pink, but unlike the "Light", it stands out much less because it is smaller and each letter is not outlined in red. The font of these two sets of words is very youthful looking; the curves of the letters are over-emphasized (especially that of the letter 'U'), the capitalization seems to alternate (which I did not completely capture in my typing because I'm unsure of what is supposed to be a capital letter and what is not due to the size of the letters), each line that would have been straight had this been Times New Roman font is slightly curved and has varying width. "Surprisingly Filling" is almost plain in appearance compared to all that's located above it, but somehow, this plainness draws the eye.
The wordy sides and back of the product echo the same visual themes seen on the front:
The right side of the product restates the title of the product and reiterates the points made on the front regarding nutrition. The left side states the meaning of satiety in simple, colloquial terms ("It means you're full") and contains a very promotional letter from the "LightFull Foods Co-founders") complete with illegible signatures. They claim that LightFull is a delicious, quick, easy, and very healthy food fix for busy women. The back of the product contains the typical nutrition information box that we see on almost all of our food products. The nutrition facts provide solid evidence for the claim that the product is healthy. Above the nutrition facts are directions in the same goofy, youthful font as is seen on the front. These directions command the consumer to shake before drinking and refrigerate the product. They also command the consumer to "Achieve Satiety" presumably by drinking the satiety smoothie.I opened the bottle expecting a thick, pink, yogurt-y smoothie with bits of strawberry in it. Instead I got an almost transparent beige beverage that was the consistency of water. This texture and appearance coupled with the grossly sweet "strawberry" flavor made for a disgusting beverage. I felt full afterwards, but it was they way you feel full after seeing someone throw up; you're so disgusted that you don't feel in the mood for food.
Diet products have a bad reputation for tasting gross and my experience with this product definitely corroborated this. Thus, many companies choose to use euphemisms for "diet": "sugar free", "light", "low calorie", "healthy", "zero calories", and even "all natural" are common euphemisms. LightFull is doing the same thing when they state that their product is a "Satiety Smoothie". The word "diet" cannot be found anywhere on this bottle. Instead I only find a few of the euphemisms for the word "diet" mentioned above.
Because of the grossness associated with diet foods, it is in LightFull Food's best interest to portray their product as not only euphemistically diet but also delicious and appetizing. And indeed, nearly every single aspect of the front of the product is there to convey either of the above. It is astounding how well thought out the packaging of the product is. Warm colors like red and yellow have long been thought by scientists to arouse hunger. Cooler colors often do the opposite; studies show that people who eat food off of blue plates will eat less than those eating off of yellow plates. The strawberries, which contribute to much of the red on the bottle, are graphically altered so that they look more appetizing. They are made more red and they are very clean looking. Studies show that people highly prefer to eat food that is the correct color; a picture of a blue, green, or purple strawberry will seem highly unappetizing unlike the red strawberry. Thus, the red of the strawberries is emphasized. Imagine if the image of the strawberries showed that the strawberries were dusty or had dirt on them; how appetizing would that be? Thus the strawberries are made to look almost squeaky clean. And on the strawberries, "Strawberry Bliss" is written. To me, this implies that the beverage is just so delicious that it will induce a state of bliss from the strawberry taste alone. This along with the strawberry image is what bolstered my expectation of a pink beverage with strawberry bits in it; it's what I'm used to getting from tasty strawberry-flavored dairy products. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met with this product. But I'm sure I would have been less disappointed (and also less willing to drink the beverage) if they'd shown the brown wateriness that the smoothie actually was.
The image of the woman serves several purposes. Based on her outfit, it appears that she is exercising in some way which delicately conveys that the product is a diet beverage. She is simultaneously juggling symobls of money, work (or school), time, and home. Based on her huge smile, she looks like she's having a good time doing so, despite that fact that she appears to be in quite a hurry. In a way, LightFull Foods is saying "we understand you". They use this little picture to convey "diet" along with the ideas that modern women have many roles that they must juggle in order to live their lives: wife, employee, mother, caretaker, student, etc. LightFull Foods shows a woman literally juggling symbols of all of these roles and difficulties. The literal interpretation of the word "juggle" (which is often used when describing busy people) conveys that although the woman is smiling, her life is tough. Apparently, LightFull Foods wants you to know that they understand your struggles. Apparently, they understand that it's hard to juggle all of your different roles and duties in today's world. Apparently, they understand that this makes it hard for many women to diet. LightFull Food's solution and answer to dieting women's troubles: a satiety smoothie. The sides of the bottle underscores my point; in the letter to the consumer, the founders begin by saying "All our lives we've longed for a convenient snack that helps us stay healthy [diet euphemism] while juggling life's responsibilities [LightFull Foods apparently understands]. That's why we created LightFull Satiety Smoothie [now buy our product!]..."
"ALL NATURAL 90 LITTLE CALORIES", "Satiety Smoothie", and "Surprisingly Filling" are direct euphemisms for the fact that the product is a diet beverage that is meant to decrease hunger so that the consumer eats less and looses weight. Even the shape of the bottle itself shows this. It's hourglass-shaped – the same shape that's often described as the most desirable female body shape there is. Many dieting women will describe how their "shooting for that perfect hourglass figure". And LightFull Foods hints that if you drink their smoothie, that shape is attainable. They'll even remind you of what it looks like by making the bottle an hourglass shape.
Finally, the title of the product along with the appearance of that title practically scream "delicious diet food". The "Light" part of "LightFULL" on the front is lighter in color than the red seen on the rest of the bottle. This serves to visually communicate the diet euphemism "light". The "FULL" part of "LightFULL" is in all capital letters. These large, full letters communicate the feeling of satiety. Fullness is directly reiterated in the "Satiety Smoothie" part via the word "satiety". Also, the word "smoothie" is used (as opposed to beverage) in order to make the product more appetizing an dessert-like. Further underscoring the claim that the product is pleasant and delicious is the way the name of the product sounds. Say "LightFull" outloud and try saying the letter "d" in front of it. It sounds like "delightful"; in fact, it's only one phonetic syllable away from actually being the word "delightful". Unfortunately, this so-called smoothie is far from the delightfully delicious satiety smoothie that LightFull Foods tries so hard to make it appear to be. Perhaps "SguSting" would be a more honest name for this product.
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