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According to The New York Times, Tropicana's recent decision to redesign its packaging has resulted in parent company Pepsi Co's "own version of New Coke." The new Tropicana package, which features an image of a glass of orange juice, has been described by customers as "ugly" and "stupid," and has caused a widespread revolt. Bowing to the wisdom of the masses, Tropicana is discontinuing the new package and switching back to its popular "orange with a straw" design.When I first heard about this, I mentioned it to my wife. My family regularly drinks Tropicana, which means that I am familiar with the new package. Like many of the company's critics, I don't really care for the design, but this is the sort of thing that I tend to ignore. Personally, I reserve my consumer rage for really big things like Jar Jar Binks and Claussen's inclusion of HFCS in their Kosher half-sour pickles. In fact, the last time that I got angry about a food package was when Stouffer's decided to portray nachos on the front of their frozen Welsh Rarebit.
Seriously: Welsh Rarebit nachos. The image still fills me with a barely-contained rage.
At any rate, my mention of Tropicana's repackaging inspired an immediate, furious response from my wife. Citing the new "boring, ugly" container, she noted that it is now almost impossible to find Tropicana in the store, as it blends in with the generic brands. When I tried to inject a note of levity by arguing that "it's just an orange juice package," she fixed me with a steely glare and, in a tight, stern voice, told me that the person who designed the Tropicana container "should be taken out and shot."
Ouch. Well, I guess one person's Welsh Rarebit is another person's Tropicana orange juice...
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2-24-2009 @4:52PM Philpott said... This is up there with Gatorade's rebranding as "G." Gatorade would have been better off removing the entire Gatorade word and left a big lighting bolt. That was their logo. From a design standpoint, Tropicana's package has taken out almost every semblance of branding and they are now calling themselves "100% orange." Keep elements of the cleaner packaging but throw on a larger name and or logo.
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2-24-2009 @5:14PM dd said... No, it really is that bad. If you had to do the shopping, you would think so too. It's a pain to spend several minutes looking at various cartons to figure out which is the one you usually get. Coming home with pulp-free in a max-pulp family is just unacceptable.
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2-24-2009 @6:00PM affidavid said... what about their shrinking package redesign, that replaces their gallon jugs with their "easy pour" bottles: 128 ounces vs. 84 ounces at the same price? are they going to switch back there as well?
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2-24-2009 @7:21PM Bill G said... I don't care about the packaging, but I wish they would go back to all Florida oranges. I know that's just not possible with the poor Florida citrus crop since the 2004 hurricane season, but I hope they will eventually find their way back from Brazil.
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2-24-2009 @9:41PM Ace said... The new packaging made all of their juices look the same. I wonder what the focus groups said to convince them it was a good idea?
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2-25-2009 @9:11AM Monica Forrestall said... When I went to pick up this new container I had to look a couple of times. Is this really orange juice? And what is that a photograph of on the container? A consumer shouldn't have to look a couple of times to try to figure out what the imagery is. That it is a glass of juice wasn't clear on first glance and isn't nearly as satisfying looking as the more orangey orange with a straw. I'll raise a glass (of OJ) to the return to the old packaging!
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2-25-2009 @1:17PM Gobo said... I'm not a big fan of the new, generic, antiseptic packaging either, but...er...the words "Pulp Free" are the largest text on the front, after "100% ORANGE". Kinda hard to miss.
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2-25-2009 @7:31PM GL said... I liked the new design and I didn't have much trouble reading the package at the store.
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2-27-2009 @2:11AM beth said... we've been buying less oj simply because the prices went waaay up in our local market, and the whole recession thing has us cutting out some stuff.
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3-03-2009 @11:49AM Nicole said... For the past few years, I buy 2 containers of Tropicana Orange Tangerine juice every week for my kids. Every SINLGE time I'm at the grocery store, it takes me forver to scan back & forth, pick up, put down, move left, move right to find the correct juice. I work in Marketing and from that side as well as a consumer, this was a huge mistake for Tropicana. Every person I come across in in the store is doing the same thing and agrees that this is incredibly annoying.
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4-28-2009 @9:08AM Sal Monella said... I like the little orange as the cap. I hope they keep that part. Besides, I don't drink or eat the container, so I could care less what it looks like. Throw it in a clear gallon jug and I am happy.
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