Saturday 6 March 2021

Unnecessary change!


I've never liked change for change's sake. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

As long as I've been drinking instant coffee (60 years?), the tops of the Nescafé jars have always been dark 'coffee brown'. Now, for some bizarre reason, some spotty youf in their design dep't has decided that they should be RED.

They even warned on the jar, that because the tops had changed colour, it didn't mean that the contents had changed.


This may sound obsessive, but I am that annoyed by this unnecessary change that each time a pot of instant coffee is emptied, I now change the tops; always keeping the brown one.

I don't know about you, but personally I don't think that the red tops look right; and, anyway, what on earth was the point on changing the colour. Was it just to annoy old Cro down in Southern France?

You may find it strange that I'm writing about the colour of the tops on instant coffee jars, but for some reason this really, really, annoys me!

Have a good day!

 

44 comments:

  1. Been red here for ages. It seems to be offered at half price about every month. Worth stocking up when it's cheap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I noticed it at the end of last year, and it still annoys me!

      Delete
  2. You drink instant coffee?!?! Say it ain't so! Life's too short for instant coffee, no matter what color the packaging.

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    Replies
    1. 5am. Let dog out, make big cup of instant coffee, turn on laptop. It's always been the same, and I suspect always will.

      Delete
  3. I am sure it is all about some designer saying the red is a strong color that will make your hand reach for this brand and not the other brand.

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    Replies
    1. Well, that's one theory, to me it said that it was a different product; and they even had to explain that it wasn't.

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  4. Nescafe have put out red mugs for years. If it's a brand colour we guess it was only a matter of time before some bright spark in marketing wanted to be recognised for having an idea. Change is inevitable but some of it is just damned pointless.

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    1. I just don't think it looks right either.

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  5. Well as someone who grinds the coffee beans every morning and has a delicious mug of coffee. Don't try coffee bags, which were sent as a substitute, weak and horrible, a grey ghost of nothingness.

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    Replies
    1. Our freshly ground coffee is made at about 10 am. My first cup of instant at 5 am is simply for convenience; I like it too.

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  6. My Decaf instant used to be green topped , now I buy it dressed in blue tops.
    My 'pet' dislike is that wanting to recycle any jar for some sort of storage getting the lables off is becoming more difficult.

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    Replies
    1. I agree about labels. We always used to keep our 'Bonne Maman' jam jars. Now we make our own jam, but still remember struggling with the label removal.

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  7. Perhaps it's an age thing!!?? :-)

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    Replies
    1. Probably. I don't like unnecessary change in anything. Stuck in my ways, I suppose.

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  8. We say about things like that - I wish these would be our troubles - it's very reassuring. At least here.

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    Replies
    1. I know it's a very trifling matter, but it really annoys me.

      Delete
  9. I haven't bought Nescafe ordinary since they brought out Azera. I used to buy Gold Blend. I am not the world's most observant person but if you had asked me the colour of the tops I'd have said they matched their mugs and were red (except gold blend which is gold). In other words I could not give a fig what colour they are. Now if Marmite changed that would be different.

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    Replies
    1. Well exactly! Or if Colman's mustard packs became blue, or Lea & Perrin's had a purple label. There should be a law about such things.

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  10. At least the jars are still glass. I hate all of the plastic containers.
    Briony
    X

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    Replies
    1. Our Coffee beans come in big plastic bags, but maybe the 'instant' would be tainted. I agree, glass is best.

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  11. Instant coffee??? Haven't had any in the house for the last 30 years!

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    Replies
    1. Shame on you, it's wonderful stuff; especially at 5 am in the morning.

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  12. I have a small jar which I've had for years, houses the bulk pepper and it has a red label. I'm sure it was a jar of decaf. We buy our Nescafé in tins now.
    But its the change you don't like.
    As long as the change does not cause frustration or confusion I don't mind it at all.
    If I had a set routine I would probably
    purposely try and trip myself up. Im on the other side, what will be will be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a feeling that the decaf jar had a red top; maybe that's now dark brown!

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  13. There might be something else behind it...dark brown or black plastic isn't recognised as such by automatic recycling sorting machines....

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    1. Ah-ha; maybe that's the reason. We are very conscientious about recycling, so perhaps there's a good point behind it. I shall still keep hold of my dark brown top.

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    2. I was about to say the same thing as gz. Black and brown the machines cant recognise, which is why they should change all of those bloody black microwave meal packaging. We dont have them ourselves as they have a lot of salt. they cant be recycled so they shouldnt be allowed

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  14. A change is as good as a rest, Cro.

    If such a trifle truly "annoys" you you may like to take up meditation to soothe and smooth that furrowed brow and those ruffled feathers.

    Anyway, there is a reason red is a popular colour. Think carpet at the Oscar's, think lipstick, think strawberries - and cheer up.

    U

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Am I not allowed to be annoyed any more? If I wish to be annoyed by red tops; then I will be!

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  15. Hate instant coffee so can't join in the argument.

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    Replies
    1. It's my saviour every morning. I can't be bothered with pukka coffee at 5 am.

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  16. You'll be pleased to know that this sort of thing annoys me intensely too, all that 'rebranding' rubbish, it's just an unnecessary waste of money. Haven't they got better things to spend it on...like reducing the prices for us?

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    Replies
    1. I think we have the makings of an 'Association' here. Already 2 members!

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  17. I drink that exact same kind of instant coffee. They haven't changed the tops here in Canada yet. Maybe it's a branding thing? I don't know why everyone is down on instant coffee. It's quick and easy for a busy morning. -Jenn

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    Replies
    1. For my first coffee of the day, it suits me perfectly. AND, I like the taste.

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  18. We always support local coffee roasters. It's been many decades since I've had instant coffee of any brand. You could always boycott the brand. Buy something else. Or just keep exchanging the lid while the jars remain the same size. --EM Griffith

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    1. We do grind our own beans as well. The instant is just for my morning cup. Yes, I'm keeping the dark brown top, the red ones go for recycling.

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  19. When I first saw the red top I thought it may be decaffeinated and had to read the label, just to find out it's the same darn coffee with a different colored top. Like you...leave it all be. Bloody tinkerers with nothing else to do.
    ~Jo

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    Replies
    1. I shall have to look next Tuesday to see if the decaf has red tops; I suspect they do.

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  20. I think that both tops are racist. How would you like to be a brown skinned man, finding his proud heritage reduced to a coffee jar lid? Or a native American who sees the red lid as a slur upon his ancestry?

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    1. Why is it that I've begun to feel guilty about being a white middle-class heterosexual educated male, whereas previously I just felt average?

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  21. I buy the same brand of Vitamin D always. Generally it has a flip lid, but occasionally it comes with a screw on lid, which I immediately switch out to the old flip top.
    I suspect the current run of red tops are less expensive.

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    Replies
    1. I hadn't considered cost, not had I considered recyclability. Maybe both are part of the reasoning.

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  22. I suppose the red attracts the eye more. Like you, I like change for the better but not for the sake of it and one great saying is, Before you change something, firstly find out why it is the way it is.

    ReplyDelete

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