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Blue margarine? Yellow Oreos? Green ketchup? Colored French fries? Popcorn that changes color? It's all part of a trend that shows little sign of fading away.
By JEFF HARRINGTON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 19, 2002
Will purple edge out aqua and pink today in the nationally hyped contest to become the next M&M?
Or more to the point, are people really passionate about what color coating encases a morsel of chocolate before popping it in one's mouth?
Don't sell M&M/Mars short. The confectionary kingpin knows a sure-fire marketing gimmick when it tastes it -- and apparently there is no easier way to bolster a brand these days than by tweaking its color.
Candy not your bag? There's colored pudding and colored french fries.
Next month, Pepsi Blue will arrive on store shelves, eager to capitalize on the success of cherry-flavor Mountain Dew Code Red. (Never mind that some think Pepsi Blue bears an uncanny resemblance to Windex).
Moving beyond boring yellow, Parkay "Fun Squeeze" margarine now comes in electric blue and shocking pink. The creme filling inside some Oreos is in the "wild summer colours" of green and blue. Cheetos, meanwhile, is touting its "mystery colorz" snacks. (Hint to snack sleuths: Think blue and green.)
And don't overlook New Herr's Changing Cheddar Magic Popcorn, a Pennsylvania product popping up in some stores.
"Don't look now," text on the Herr's package reads, "but, while you are enjoying your first mouth full of Herr's Changing Cheddar and your taste buds are saying 'Yummy' and your stomach is saying 'Ahhh,' your tongue is slowly changing from pink to green."
Scrumptious!
Suzanna Eygabroat,cq who tracks new product introductions for Marketing Intelligence Services in New York, thinks the color craze began with Heinz's green ketchup. "They shattered the rules as far as colors go," she said.
Since then, everything edible is fair game.
Eygabroat recalls being surprised when she tasted a Hunt's snack pack pudding tied to Disney's Atlantis movie. "I thought it was vanilla pudding in a blue cup; no, it was blue pudding," she said. "I took a sample and ate it and my tongue was blue."
Blame it on the youth of America. Or better yet, on parents indulging the youth of America.
Kids love fun and funky products and what's funkier than experimenting with wild colors? Marketing to kids has become increasingly hip as marketers realize just how much influence kids have in how their parents spend money. Especially when it comes to stocking the refrigerator.
The Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University estimates that $13-billion a year is spent marketing to American children by the food and drink industries.
The wallet power of the tweens, those ages 12 to 17, is well-known in the industry.
Consider a survey out Monday6/17 by the Center for a New American Dream, a nonprofit in Maryland trying to improve America's consumption habits. The "nag factor" survey found that on average tweens were willing to nag their parents nine times to get the latest "in" product.
"Twelve- to 13-year-olds are especially persistent," said Eric Brown, the center's communications director. "They're willing to nag their parents 50 times ... They're just not giving up."
Eygabroat, for one, doesn't think the trend is winding down. Just the opposite. "As these kids grow up, I think it will change the face of adult foods as well," she said.
Purple pizza, anyone?
-- Jeff Harrington can be reached at harrington@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3407.