Sometimes a consumer goods company will react to a need in the marketplace and change one of their products for the better. And sometimes, right around when I start to become comfortable with a certain item, they will change it just to mess with me.
It's one thing to come out with an alternative product. Frosted Flakes with 1/3 less sugar is a good idea. Just make sure that I can still buy the full sugar version, too, in case I actually want to eat the stuff instead of put the box on the counter and pretend for guests that I am on a diet.
Sometimes, though, companies change the original formula forever. New and improved they say. And you can't get the old one back.
Take for instance my soap. I've been using Safeguard for many years now, and I like it. It has been around since 1965 and is the #1 brand of antibacterial soap sold worldwide. You'd think that they would just leave well enough alone. Instead, they have recently decided that it was necessary to add aloe to my Safeguard. Why? Has there been an universal outcry for aloe lately? I'm just fine with the moisture level of my skin. You can now only get the aloeless version in beige. My bathroom decor is white. It doesn't go.
My toothpaste was also a victim of unnecessary change. Until recently, I had been an Aquafresh Extreme Clean consumer. I liked the crazy, foaming-at-the-mouth bubbles. I felt like my teeth were getting Extremely Clean. It all made sense. Until they decided to add whitening to all flavors of the toothpaste. You can't even get a tube without whitening anymore. I don't want whitening. One out of one of my dentists recommends that I don't use toothpaste with whitening.
A while back my deodorant of choice decided to add some ingredient that I don't remember the name of - it was about 25 letters long and sounded like a mishmash of the periodic table. Tetroclorohydraconiumazine or something like that. Anyway, the stuff was supposed to be better at keeping you from sweating. It gave me an underarm rash.
There are many other examples of this phenomenon. Cell phone plans. Rachel Ray. Even the cleaner Formula 409 was recently new and improved. I'm sorry - wouldn't that be Formula 410?
I'm just saying be careful. Sometimes new and improved really only means different.
1 comment:
I couldn't agree with you more ! I've been an avid Safeguard user myself since my college days. Thankfully, we can still use the beige because our bathroom is gray and blue. And I think you might have been mistaken on that ingredient. I believe it was dextrohexidecimothorphanoleum if I remember correctly. By the way, I really enjoy reading your stories. You should write for the City Paper or something.
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