Like moths to

So the other day I found this entry titled What’s NXT? in the "Story of stuff" blog about some whacked up marketing campaign that involves packaging shaving gel in some lava-lamp-esque jar with light and batteries built in (please check out the link). I’ve written here before about how I agree with anything Annie Leonard says (even though some of my friends believe the numbers in her statistics are exaggerated) because she is the shiznit. However, my concerns are not really in the same order as hers.

She went on about how hard would it be to recycle those bottles and about how toxic the chemicals in the batteries are (which will end up as landfill or worse). And she really does have a point, the kind of -- *sigh* person -- that would buy those things most probably won’t care about recycling it or whatever.

Then, halfway through her article she says, and I quote “What are we, moths?” That’s really what bugs me the most. Are they really planning to use blinking lights to attract people to buy that silly stuff? Are you freaking serious? What kind of human being favors “flashy lights” against, I don’t know, an item being overpriced because they charge you for a flashlight that you will throw away when the bottle’s empty? Even if it were cheaper… Gosh darn it; I wouldn’t take that crap home even if it were free! Marketing stunts like that are insults to mankind’s intellect. And what scares me is that I know that stuff will probably sell like crazy. The only thing that may stop this madness is the protests of environmentalists, perhaps. To me half of the damage is already done. Next time you’re at the store and you are about to buy something in a fancy bottle think about it. Somewhere in the world there’s a rich dude laughing at you.