The heat beat down like the sound of a drum onto my neutral
coloured hoodie. Sat in the back garden of my student house in
Norwich on an early spring afternoon, I was reading The
Geek Manifesto - a book which highlights the consistent failures
of politics on issues of sound science, and the modern successes that
individuals have brought upon change. Being a slow reader, all this
reading, sitting in the sun and thinking was making me hungry - a
snack was in order. Now the student house is certainly not the best
place to go hunting for food; you can never know what you are going
to find if anything at all; but the mission was set. It was no
surprise to me whilst visiting a friend the week before that I
stumbled across what looked like four alien potatoes; stimulating
their own ecosystem, penetrating the bag from which they should have been contained. They didn't look healthy let alone edible! Luckily on this occasion no such contaminants were found within my cupboards, but then neither were any snacks.
The fridge door was swung open with hope that there would be
something, anything in there. And there it was, a Müller
Corner yoghurt staring right at me. With the rip of the lid, and the
aid of a spoon, I was sitting outside in the sun satisfying my quench
to eat something tasty.
Halfway through eating this yogurt I asked myself: how did I come
about to eating it and why?
At first glance you may answer "well you were hungry, and
that was perfectly suited to satisfy your needs", but I'm going
dive deeper and try explain how reasoning can go beyond this. First
of all a purchase had to be made at the supermarket. I then realised
that when ever I go shopping, I always pick these type of yoghurts.
Not necessarily the same flavour, type or make but ones where by the
yoghurt itself, and the 'extra flavouring' are separated (personal
favourite is Cadbury's chocolate ones!). So why do I persistently
chose to purchase these type of yoghurts?
Now as a friend told me, it could be routed in my memory where in
my younger years I was exposed to these types; I enjoyed them then,
and still enjoy them now. But whilst eating this particular yoghurt I
soon realised that it wasn't as satisfying as my initial perception
had led me to believe. You could say my mind was tricking me. Then I
thought about what could be causing it...ah ha! Yoghurts with a
separated 'extra flavouring' which differentiates it from most other
types; a common theme in my preference. The act of lifting the spoon,
scooping some of the chocolate digestives up, into the vanilla
yoghurt and it's gone. Now everyone has their own way of eating these
type of yoghurts; some put all the 'extra flavouring' in at once and
swirl it around to mix. Either way, both require 'interaction' with
the food. Some form of action which has an influence upon how it
looks, tastes and is perceived. This would therefore stimulate a response in the brain linking the imagery of the product when I am standing in the
supermarket, to the actions and tastes whist
I am eating one. Very clever product design I would say! It would be
interesting to know whether Müller
realises this or not? Certainly consumers don't.
Please comment and disagree on any of it, this is why I have
started writing a blog!

Hello! I think you're right, it's about interaction with those kind of things. I guess you're too young to remember salt and shake crisps? Frankly, nowhere near as good salting as could be achieved in the factory, but people used to love them . They sound pretty crazy looking back from the 21st century. In ten years people will be all like "fruit your own yogurt? That is totally whack ". Biscuits however...
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