Tropicana Reverting to Old Packaging After Consumer Complaints
After a flurry of complaints via letters, email, and telephone calls about Tropicana's new look, introduced in early January, the company is going back to its old design. [The New York Times]
Previously: Tropicana, Pepsi Overhaul Packaging
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18 Comments:
That's funny. I guess the company didn't realize how much we the consumers like that cute orange with the straw stuck in it.
runnereater at 12:29PM on 02/23/09
Seriously? People take time out of their lives to complain about stuff like this?
Tropicana, on the other hand, didn't they do any market research on this? I used to be on a list and called on to participate in research studies occasionally (and get paid for it!) that were designed specifically for this sort of 'issue.'
It's still silly.
Peggasus at 12:35PM on 02/23/09
I hope they aren't going to do away with the new cap shaped like an orange! I thought that was brilliant and wondered why nobody had thought of it earlier.
MCM
mcmvoices at 12:50PM on 02/23/09
Meh... it was clean typography and simple design that was completely inappropriate for the product. It isn't enough for something to look nice. Branding exists to sell the product, not the designer. Typical these days, really. Some over-eager corporate type pairs with an overblown design agency to ruin what had been a perfectly good package and logo design. Pepsi got along fine by separating the soft drink and fruit juice lines for years (seriously... Coke drinkers seemed perfectly alright crossing the line to go to Tropicana over Minute Maid despite brand loyalty in soda). Why in the world do they feel it is necessary for them to share the same typeface now and stress the connection? That and it became virtually impossible to differentiate one Tropicana drink from another if you didn't notice the different color stripes at the top.
Oh well... sorry about the rant. In any event... the juice tastes the same in the end, I guess.
jpolk at 1:13PM on 02/23/09
@mcm: The Times article says they are keeping the orange cap -- but only for one of the sub brands (the low-sugar, low-cal version, I think).
@jpolk: Not according to my husband does the juice taste the same. He refuses to drink Tropicana ever since the design change, saying the juice doesn't taste the same.
Has anyone else noticed a change in taste?
(For the record? I think he's nuts.)
Dee at 1:22PM on 02/23/09
@Peggasus: 99 percent of the web is people complaining about stuff like this. ;)
@mcmvoices: They would be wise to keep at least that much of the packaging. The little half-orange cap is the best part of that design.
Adam Kuban at 1:24PM on 02/23/09
Gotta have the orange with the straw. Although I hope they keep the orange-shaped lid.
DanielJ at 1:24PM on 02/23/09
I have noticed a similar design change in a number of big brand products including Tropicana and Kraft cheese where it seems to me they are going for a look almost mimicking generic or house brand products. I was wondering if this was in response to the economic conditions where they were trying to look like the cheaper alternatives? Of course it could be that all these products are under the smae umbrella crop. and as such hired the same marketing firm.
bemijohm at 1:29PM on 02/23/09
@Dee: Actually I've not had any regular Tropicana orange juice since the change... not because of some idea that it is different, but because every time I visit my family down in Florida I come back and can't stand how different the stuff tastes when it isn't fresh - that's not an elitist thing, it is just true.
I did, however, try their orange/pineapple juice blend this past weekend. It was quite good. Surprisingly tart for a commercial product. My toddler loved it! Of course, the only way I found it was by seeing the purple stripe at the top of the container (Why purple? Is purple somehow more "island?").
jpolk at 1:29PM on 02/23/09
Having tried to locate the "low acid" variety in a supermarket amongst all the varieties they apparently sell, it's a good thing they're going back to the original design. The only indicator of variety was tiny-font on the side of the carton and a little blue stripe near the top that was near-invisible when viewed on an actual, like, carton, which is, in fact, a three-dimensional object. *sigh*
Couldn't care less about the rest of the design, but when you can't find the one you're looking for at a glance, well, that's just silly.
mschlock at 1:53PM on 02/23/09
Yahoo! The new packages looked like a generic store brand. Bad move for marketing.
WickedGoodDinner at 2:53PM on 02/23/09
@Wicked - I agree. The first time I saw it in my fridge, I yelled at the wife for buying a generic brand of OJ instead of Tropicana. I wouldn't want to be the designer that came up with that awful idea.
ESNY1077 at 3:23PM on 02/23/09
I don't think they were trying to go for a store-brand look as much as they were going for a modern, clean, minimalist look. Too bad the packaging ended up looking crowded (too much text), and consumers had to hunt for the type of orange juice they were buying. I ran into this problem with my boyfriend the other day, and we almost walked away with the wrong carton of oj. As a marketing professional, I don't understand why they wouldn't subject such a drastic change to more testing or consumer input. Branding shouldn't overshadow the product or confuse consumers. Design preference is another story.
pearl at 6:18PM on 02/23/09
I know it's a silly thing to be happy about, but I'm definitely happy about this. Whenever I see those Tropicana cartons at the market with their newfangled design, I wrinkle my nose at them with distaste. I know they were going for a clean and modern look, but it just did not work at all.
I can only hope PepsiCo. learned their lesson and do something about the new Pepsi logo, too :\
blisseau at 1:35AM on 02/24/09
I didn't really write in to complain, but I think they did a horrble job on the redesign. I have no idea what the idiot design company was thinking. The only thing they did well was the orange shaped cap.
The straw in the orange is iconic. Any redesign should still include that. Even if they wanted to use clean fonts and coloring and so on.
wunami at 9:11AM on 02/24/09
I loved the new design. Before, I would buy whatever was on sale. Once I saw that beautiful new design, I was only buying Tropicana. Yes, it had some problems, which is odd for a national brand with as many resources as they had, but it was soooo much nicer than the other brands. It stood out on the shelf. It made a leap in the category without leaping out of it.
Also, I don't see the problem with looking like a store brand. I don't know if you've noticed, but objectively and subjectively, store brands are competing with and exceeding expectations of quality against national brands these days.
I'm sad to see it go.
iynque at 12:39PM on 02/24/09
@Dee - I only drink their grapefruit juices, so I can't speak for other flavours, but as far as grapefruit juice goes - no, no difference in taste at all.
brooke29 at 1:56PM on 02/24/09
I totally agree with the consumers who complained. The design made Tropicana look very generic and unappealing. But, if you're going to make a change you need to go with it, people will get used to it eventually. I'm very surprised to hear they are changing back.
Now everyone who doesn't know this information is going to think their grocery store is selling old juice!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 11:04AM on 02/26/09