GUSWORLD
Rant Of The Day THIS RANT 22/05/96

Rant Of The Day is where I get to mouth off about whatever I feel like for however long I like. Theoretically, I'll update my whinge/opinion piece every weekday; in practice, maybe not so often.

Chip off the old block

The May 17 issue of Ad News informs me that Smith's is about to split its three chip brands into clearly defined market segments. Samboy will become an "aggressive, youthful brand targeted at teenage males". The ad will feature a band rehearsing in a garage. Lites will be positioned "more strongly with 20-30 year old women", a miracle to be achieved by using Seinfeld star Julia-Louis Dreyfus in the advertisements. Smith's Originals will be aimed at the 16-35 year old market.

Two things about this news bother me. The first is why I, as a 24 year old-male, am being discriminated against. If I was a younger Samboy, or a female of the same age, I'd be specially targeted, but instead I get lumped in the Originals category. Isn't my money good enough? And will I have to stop eating chips when I turn 35?

The second disturbing trend is that Smith's hopes to push Australia's 1.8kg of chips per year consumption closer to US levels, where 3.1kg of fried potato snacks are chowed down by each person each year. I suspect such a development would impact on the bottom line in more ways than one.

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