Now here's an interesting site with a point to make! I think it's worth posting some of what they have to say, in case the link doesn't last.


Shelf Life, a new book by Rosie Walford with with Paula Benson and Paul West, celebrates the unusual, the eccentric, the exotic and the erotic in product brands. Underlying the pure entertainment value of bilingual double-entendres like Cocagne sardines is a more serious observation. Diversity and originality in product design – of which brand is only the most obvious, visible sign – is being strangled, and rapidly, by the tentacles of the global megacorps. The amusing packets, tins, boxes and bottles featured in Shelf Life are ordinary household groceries loved by shoppers from Antwerp to Zanzibar. More characterful than any global mega-brand, these local goods don't kowtow to foreign marketing concerns. Instead, they bring intrigue to supermarket shopping, promising rudeness and delight at the bleakest of foreign stalls. And they don't give a damn what we English speakers think.

Most English speaking manufacturers can't stand being misunderstood. Mitsubishi rushed to change the Pajero ('wanker') to Montero and re-brand the Nova ('doesn't go') for Spanish-speaking markets, Microsoft found a less figurative translation than 'tiny and flaccid' for China before it went live.

By contrast, the brands you see here have maintained the courage of their convictions. They proudly proclaim their identity with starbursts, drop shadows, logos as vivid as their designers could create. But sadly, the days of such joyful product diversity are numbered. Creamy Fingers biscuits have been whipped off the market; Puke playing cards can no longer be found. What a shame! Right now, we're at a point in history where unregulated money flows mean we are starting to get the same 'consumer experience' wherever we get off a plane. Supermarkets are eradicating unique local shops and creeping across national boundaries (exit the channel tunnel, et voila! Le Tesco, proud recipient of one in every seven pounds spent in the UK). Simultaneously, transnational manufacturers are busy spreading their formulas worldwide. Quirky individuality is endangered.

You're more likely to yawn at another tin of John West on your holiday, than to discover Cocagne sardines, Atum Bom tuna, or some other funny fish. While we prize individuality, the possibility of actually finding unique and distinctive products fades day by day. Bra milk, for example, is no longer available in Sweden. Instead, we can shop with long faces, and return home only with Natur.

Economies of scale are kicking in and it's the transferable brands which can afford to hog shelf space in those big, handy shops. Supermarkets, already exerting a stranglehold over food producers, also require their branded suppliers to prove huge expenditure on ad campaigns if they are to be given distribution. What hope for the proud Polish owner of Barf, however soapy his suds?


Their picture gallery is here and includes such beauties as "Climax" toilet block, "Cocagne" sardines and "Hardon" Tea.