Comments on: Tropicana Orange Juice Carton Protests

By: Jeanie

Jeanie — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 12:28:00 +0000

Please don’t continue to put Tropicana in those plastic bottles. Stay with the cardboard!

By: wil

wil — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:05:31 +0000

As Village Idiot said, I think the strong reaction is related to the broken-looking glass of orange juice seen from an angle. It looks like it should be spilling all over the floor, and though we’re not always consciously aware of it, images like that cause mental stress. Also the juice comes out at the viewer on a corner — combined with the visual suggestion of broken glass, this suggests sharp, dangerous orange juice, perhaps filled with pieces of broken glass. I do think it’s sad that a)we are consumers and not citizens and b)that as consumers these are the sorts of advertising decisions that get changed and not, far too often, misogynistic or racist advertisements. However I’m very sympathetic to the notion that something that visually implies immediate physical harm or danger will be more viscerally disturbing to more people than just about any other kind of image. It’s like when Oppenheim’s Fur-Lined Teacup was first shown, a little. People actually got sick when they saw it, because they weren’t yet inoculated against that particular image of unpleasantly crossed sensory allusions. Now that it’s like the most famous surrealist sculpture ever, we’re pretty unshocked by it. But no one was expecting Tropicana to offer them up a nice tall drink of glass-shard-orange-juice.

By: Irma Alfaro

Irma Alfaro — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:26:23 +0000

My family and I have been drinking the tropicana orange juice for ages. I always get the 64ozs. 100% orange juice with no pulp. But recently I have seen a difference in the quality. It seems very very diluted, just very concentrated. I am very disappointed at Tropicana owned my Pepsi for deceiving me and my family. I will no longer buy this juice and would have to find another better quality product. I called the company twice complaining about this and they always give me the same story about the oranges not getting enough rain or something like that. Which does not make sense to me. I will no longer buy this product. I will find another company that will provide a better quality product and that is 100% real orange juice.

By: John

John — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:32:07 +0000

The real story is that Tropicana reduced the amount of juice in the container.

The 16 ounce carton is now 14 ounces. Same price.

I believe the 64 ounce size now features less juice, too. Same price.

By: G

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:24:00 +0000

Pepsi could care less how the ‘more refined’ (a subjective term. I would calll you all snobs, personally) among us view the change. Sales plunged 20% overnight. ~$33 million dollars gone, on top of paying for Arnell’s aesthetically pleasing rose-tinted glasses. End of story. There’s no other way of possibly spinning this other than an epic branding disaster.

People detest the packaging, but just as importantly they were also confused by it. Many simply bought the old design because they were comfortable with the product. It wasn’t a conscious choice. The straw and orange were ubiquitous, and though they didn’t display the actual juice, it aroused an almost automatic thought of it from previous experience. When the design changed, the allegiance and trust/familiarity went with it. Consumers were forced to think and choose a brand, or move on. A simple consumer focus test would have shown this immediately.

Design, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine, id. I’m sorry you were stood up by Arnell’s super ego.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:35:04 +0000

“As a foodie, it’s a little depressing to think that people in general may be more concerned about the design of their orange juice carton than in thinking about what’s inside the carton.”

ummmm….is it orange juice? yeah, i think that orange stuff in there is orange juice.

By: Good Stuff on the Internet: Sociological Images « Found Connections

Good Stuff on the Internet: Sociological Images « Found Connections — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:20:49 +0000

[...] Graphic design and how to visually convey data, [...]

By: flaneuse

flaneuse — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:59:21 +0000

I love the new design and have been happy to see it in stores. The carton design is cleaner and does a better job of communicating the notion that Tropicana is simple – just a dew covered orange that’s been squeezed (and of course by dew I really mean pesticide, but that’s not a marketable feature). The array of cartons in the store can be displayed so that the glass does not appear to break across the fold, which is clever as is the leaf poking out from under the orange cap as another commenter has mentioned.

The new Pepsi logo, on the other hand, is anything but clever because all they did was copy the Obama campaign. Blatant plagiarism is just not a good way to go.

By: greg

greg — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:55:14 +0000

What I find strange is that you consider yourself a foodie, yet love Tang.

By: Beth Younger

Beth Younger — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:47:09 +0000

Interesting thread and comments. What I think is that the original logo design replicates and reinforces heterosexual intercourse–the straw pierces the juicy orange, etc. and thus has a phallogocentric function. Perhaps the new design is less masculine. All hail the phallus!

By: Burk

Burk — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:12:40 +0000

For the record I hate the new Pepsi logo too.

By: anna

anna — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:15:16 +0000

i agree with the first comment. why, why, does anyone care?

By: Village Idiot

Village Idiot — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:45:22 +0000

The horror probably comes from the broken symmetry of the glass pictured on the carton when viewed from certain angles. It’s wrapped around the corner which screws up the perspective, and some folks can’t stand that sort of thing.

The orderly, analytical, and symmetrical part of me is definitely irritated by that wrong-looking glass of orange juice, but the chaotic, intuitive, and asymmetrical part of me doesn’t even notice and just checks the price.

That said, the fact that the appearance of orange juice cartons is what galvanizes ‘consumers’ to demand change just means the label ‘consumer’ has finally percolated into our subconscious. We used to be “Citizens,” now we’re “consumers.” We consume, “they” produce, and how they produce is not our concern but how our consumables look on our counters is.

By: daniel

daniel — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:39:04 +0000

The redesign coincided with a change in quantity of their small sized jug.

By: easyVegan.info » Blog Archive » easyVegan Link Sanctuary, 2009-02-27

easyVegan.info » Blog Archive » easyVegan Link Sanctuary, 2009-02-27 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:59:49 +0000

[...] Sociological Images: TROPICANA ORANGE JUICE CARTON PROTESTS [...]