Friday, July 10, 2009

observations made on a Friday

****REVISED POST****
I was sitting here thinking about those Fiber One bars again, wondering how the advertisers were sleeping at night, when I decided to do a google image search for the product. Do you know what I found.  The old boxes had FIVE bars in them.  Yes.  FIVE.  I was dead wrong below. Please forgive me, Fiber One, for sullying your good name!! I am very, very sorry!  And I am very, very happy that the advertising "gimmick" turned out to be the real deal.  One delicious extra bar per box!

I'll start with this. Today, while sitting at a stop light and casually observing the cars around me, I saw something I have previously not seen while in a driving situation.  The man in the lane next to me was taking advantage of the 30 second break in pace to have a full blown flossing session with his teeth.  And I'm not talking about a toothpick; this was all an all out, two hands involved procedure.  

I sat mesmerized for several seconds, watching what I have previously only seen take place in front of a bathroom mirror, happening before my eyes at the intersection of Stage and Whitten.  The act itself was not extraordinary, but something about that middle aged man sitting in his pick up truck, working the floss with high intensity effort in and out of his back molars, caught my attention and made me smile.  

I thought, there is a man who is using his time efficiently.  You hear all those studies about how much time we waste in the car at stop lights.  Not this man. He can go to bed at night with his conscience laid to rest on that point.  I'm not ready to pack my floss in the glove compartment yet, but there are certainly worse ways to spend your time in the car.

My next observation came as I was putting up groceries.  I got to my box of Fiber One bars and noticed the large print across the box said "One FREE bar inside!".  The old boxes contained six bars, so I ripped into the new one expecting to see seven delicious, mouth watering Oats & Chocolate bars waiting on me. Nope.  Still six.  Still the same price.  

I'm guessing here, but I'd say the only thing that changed in the Fiber One cereal bar department is the person in charge of advertising.  It appears that the price for 5 bars went up exactly 16.6% per bar, allowing that last bar to be, as advertised, "FREE."  A bad economy evidently calls for an extra dose of propaganda to be poured out onto the consumer.  I've got to say, I'm not a fan. I sure do love the bars, but not the new methods of marketing.

Not my only observations on this Friday, but probably my two most interesting. I hope you all have a great weekend!  

7 comments:

Penny said...

At least the flossing guy was doing it at a stop light and not going down the road. I saw one woman reading papers propped up on her steering wheel, not glancing up much, going full speed through the middle of my town! And I have a stepdaughter notorious for texting and driving--- telling me she can text without looking. To which I said, "Well you can't READ without looking!" Good grief!
Truth in advertising is just a concept anyway. Obviously!

my3sons said...

I am a dental hygienist. I would be willing to bet he was on his way for a dental appointment! Because, you know that flossing on the way to the appt makes up for the previous 6 months of not flossing right? :))

Angie said...

Penny, on July 1 it officially became against the law in TN to drive while texting (and that did include reading!) and I am so glad about it. I think texting and the roads do not mix.

my3sons, I think you're right. Now that you say that, it suddenly seems like the most logical conclusion =)

Cathy said...

Flossing, texting, reading, driving on a Friday - in Memphis (Bartlett). Bad choices all...even if you are going to the dentist. You will get run over before you can say, "Tigers". Glad you made it home to eat those bars! Stay safe and keep making those observations. I love them!

Southern jezeBelle said...

I'm guilty for flossing at a stop light!!! I often have a snack with me and it's often an apple and often after I eat it it's stuck all in my teeth!!! I keep floss in my glove box and in my purse b/c I can't stand things stuck in my teeth and I'm always running around on the road so I usually can't wait to get home to deal with it.

My name is Bella and I'm a flossoholic!! :)

Emily said...

Hm, you really saw the silver lining watching that guy floss because all I could think of was EWW!!!!

Allison said...

I like you, LOVE Fiber One bars...especially the Oats and Chocolate. I don't know if y'all have Aldi stores where you live, but they have the same bars(generic) for $1.50 or $1.60...Ok, I confess, my husband actually went to Aldi and bought them b/c we were on our way back from Alabama:) They are so good! Also, their granola is awesome and so cheap.