O.J.
Remember when orange juice was just orange juice? Not long ago, you chose between Minute Maid (owned by Coca-Cola) and Tropicana (owned by Pepsico) in the refrigerator case, or perhaps a frozen version of those or other brands. Using the tactics of pseudo-variety through brand extension, these companies have made shopping for orange juice a more complex operation, while hogging more and more shelf space in the cooler.
Tropicana now sells the following varieties of orange juice: Original, Pure Premium Calcium + Vitamin C, Pure Premium Healthy Heart, Light 'n' Healthy, Low Acid, Immunity Defense, and Healthy Kids. You might also [refer Strawberry-Orange juice or Orange-Kiwi-Passion Fruit. Do they expect us to think "Well, a healthy heart would be nice, but immunity form disease would be better? Or should I keep grandma or the kids healthy, or maybe buy a half-gallon for each of them?" Do we need a prescription to buy orange juice?
If you're tired of orange juice, Tropicana offers grapefruit, apple, cranberry, or grape, or a variety of fruit smoothies and tropical punches. I guess it's great to have so much to choose from, but I have to think that the real motive is to create a phalanx of juice products that drives other competitors off the shelves.
A great move, except that Minute Maid has already followed suit. They offer under their brand: Original, Original plus Calcium, Country Style, Extra Vitamins C and E Plus Zinc, Kids+, Heart Wide, Home Squeezed Style, Home Squeezed Style with Calcium, and Low Acid.
These are accompanied by products called Simply Orange Original, Simply Orange High Pulp, and Simply Orange Plus Calcium, let alone combos like Orange Passion, Orange Strawberry Banana, Orange Tangerine, Orange Cranberry, along with the usual array of other fruit juices.
Even if you don't have preferences in orange juice (other than sweet, cold, and orange-colored), you are now presented, overloaded with a wealth of seemingly distinct choices that did not exist a few years ago. But these choices are just minimal variations on a pretty simple product. But it's not just enough to want basic staples like juice, eggs, milk, or bread; big companies are forcing us to choose from a wine list of choices, and instilling guilt that we might not get the appropriate healthy variety.
7:35:28 PM 
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