Saturday, June 18, 2022

Relevancy and Diet Cherry Coke by Liz Flaherty


I use skim milk. I like to buy it in half-gallons because I don't use that much of it and I don't like to throw it away. 

I use sugar-free hazelnut coffee creamer. Yes, I know this grosses a lot of people out, but I really like it. The sugar-free part makes me feel righteous.

When I am watching what I eat, which is fifty percent of the time--the other fifty, I just eat without watching--I use Land O Lakes spreadable light butter. No, it's not as good as the real thing, but, as I said above, it makes me feel righteous. Don't I look thinner to you?


While I'm on that subject, I'm also fond of Kraft fat-free shredded cheese and Diet Cherry Coke. 

My husband likes Folger's Special Roast coffee. He will drink other coffee cheerfully, but this is his favorite. Before this, he drank Maxwell House's Slow Roast. 

I have a favorite kind of underwear. Not expensive. Nice colors. Always available at Walmart so I didn't have to look high and low to find them. I used to have a favorite bra, too, that was expensive, came in colors I loved, and was fairly available at a couple of places. 

Well, guess what. All the things I mentioned above--with the possible exception of the skim milk, although that has happened, too--have become either difficult or impossible to find. In some sad cases, they have been discontinued or...heaven forbid...improved.

What all this boils down to is that I might be an influencer (on my most hated word of the year list, and yet I'm using it--go figure) who has subliminally coerced everyone to like the same things I do so they're never in stock. However, the more likely scenario is that the things I like aren't popular enough with marketing and public opinion polls to keep them available to the general public. 

Because...you know...that demographic thing. I already know I'm not in the age group marketing experts consult or care about pleasing. I am, after all, over 49--well over 49 Does this tick me off? Oh, yes. The same thing happens with books. While I have more money to spend on books now, there are fewer that fit within the parameters of what I want to read because those "in the know" don't realize that ones outside the lines in their coloring books don't deserve being recognized. In their minds and their playbooks, we lack relevancy. 

It kind of reminds me of the DOT running roughshod all over the place because people who don't live in large cities are merely incidental and don't need convenience. Oh, but that's another column for another day. 

Do I have a solution for my soliloquy of complaints up there? No. We will just find things we like almost as well to replace those we can't find and life will go on. 

But the marketers and the advertisers and the corporations are wrong about one thing. They've been wrong about it all along. Everyone's relevant, whether they want to recognize it or not. 

Have a good week. Be nice to somebody. 

19 comments:

  1. All I can say is yup, yup, and yup. I guess the key is don't fall in love, eh? Good column!!

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  2. I was shocked when after watching people take the Nestea plunge for years and years, Nestea was no longer on the shelf! I only used it in the winter when I couldn't make sun tea, so it happened when I wasn't watching!

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    1. Liz, this is Mary Snow

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    2. Hi, Mary! I didn't know it was gone, but I do know I can only find the kind of Tetley's I want in certain places!

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  3. My belief is that as soon as I really like something it is either discontinued or all the stores in my area simultaneously decide not to stock it. I, too, am not in the "right" demographic. That always strikes me funny because I'm finally at an age of having time and money. You'd think we would be who they want to suck In.



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    1. Yes, you would absolutely think that, wouldn't you? Doesn't work that way, though!

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  4. When I can afford I buy 3 of things bras, underwear, not good as change .8ts another phase we have to go through I'm 75 I really don't want to change my cheese ๐Ÿ˜or tea, thank you Liz love knowing there are many of us on the same thought . Have a great weekend

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  5. These days NOTHING is available anymore! I worked in a grocery store for 15 years. We carried everything. Now I send my hubby to the grocery with a list and inevitably he comes back without 4 or 5 items - because they are out of stock! Shelf is empty - aggravating to say the least. We had a rule - if something didn't sell out on the shelves in 45 days, meaning it wasn't ordered for 10 ordering cycles, it was discontinued or replaced. So, Liz, not sure if this is the case with your items, but it is frustrating. Everything caters to the younger generations, after all, they'll be customers longer than we will at this point. I used to use sugar free Hazelnut too...

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    1. I actually understand about the "out of stock" on some things, although it makes me angry because I think I also understand the motivations. It's the discontinuing and the exclusive demographics I'm really burned about.

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  6. The sad one for me was when they "improved" Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. We had ONE treasured case of it that we rationed. And then it was gone. ๐Ÿ˜ญ

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  7. First off, this is awesome! And I've wondered the same thing--is this hard to find because everyone's buying it, or hard to find because no one's buying it? Should the unavailability of items I love tell me that I have bad taste? Oh, and new and improved (!), I hate that! Like new "streak-free" Windex. Before, it didn't streak. Now it does. Yes, discontinuing my favorite items aggravates me almost as much as when grocery stores rearrange their shelving! Grr! :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts! As usual, a thoughtful and fun post! And you're right; we're all relevant!

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    1. Thanks, Mary. Wouldn't it be cool if they paid attention sometime?

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  8. We've been told some of the missing items in stores are due to the results of the pandemic. Manufacturers/food distributers are behind due to supplies shortages and then there are shipping problems. Honestly, it makes me want to hoard things when I finally find them, which makes me feel guilty. Remember snowmageddon last year wiped out many crops, so that meant less food to process. There are several vicious cycles at work and we're wondering if this is the way life will continue for the future.

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    1. I feel like we're pawns in a very big game, and we don't even have a board to play on! A terrible parallel, but that is how if feels.

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  9. And then there people like me who are allergic to chemical sweeteners. Great post!

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    1. I'm sorry about that, but I'll bet you have other favorites you can't find!

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