I am currently swimming in Expo West samples, which makes me happy because it gives me fodder for blog posts and Examiner articles. This show is the place where anyone wanting to do business with Whole Foods, Mother's Markets, Central Market…any natural kind of market, parks themselves and their goods for 3 days in Anaheim, California, in an exhibition hall the size of six football fields. All of the products are natural. Not so many are healthy. You'll see all kinds of body building types (you know, the kind who are so overdeveloped they have to walk around looking as if they are carrying invisible suitcases), yoga types, Bob Marley types, chain smokers, heavy drinkers, and a gazillion flavors of kale chips, kefir, gluten free pizza, and nutrition bars.
I have come to hate nutrition bars for the most part, because there are so many, because I like real food, and because most of them should have a"really a glorified candy bar" disclaimer on the label.
But, it is great people watching, great for identifying trends, and we do have some really great inCYST supporters in our yard that we have met at Expo West.
My all time favorite laugh this year came from a product I didn't even pick up, it fell out of my trick-or-treat…er…sample bag, as I was organizing myself on returning home.
Called Blu2Go, it is a blueberry supplement with the tagline,"The Fusion of Blueberries and Science". As you can see on the front label, there are three medical claims with asterisks:
(1) Focus and Energy Melt. Ummmmm…can someone please tell me what an energy melt is? If you had asked me, I'd say that is when I return home after working out on a midsummer Phoenix day and collapse from the heat.
(2) Sustained energy boost. My understanding is that the benefit achieved from eating blueberries comes from consuming them regularly over an extended period of time. It's not like you put them on your oatmeal and take off on your run like you've got a Jetsons jet pack on your back.
(3) Supports focus and mental clarity. Well yeah, each one of those tablets is almost the equivalent of an ounce of espresso!
I went to the website and found a lot of really long and official sounding words…but what do you know? Nothing at all about why caffeine was added to the supplement and why you need to have caffeine with your blueberries. And even though the website goes into great scientific detail, even providing references about DNA, aging, etc…there is nothing, absolutely nothing, about the focus, mental clarity, yadayadayada hyped on the label.
I don't argue, there are healthy things, lots of healthy things, about eating blueberries. So why not let them do their job instead of adulterating them so that you can distract your customer from the fact that the buzz your product induces has nothing to do with the ingredient you are hyping?
Because you won't buy the product for its long term effects, you'll be on to the next, newest goodie in the Expo West bag by then. Add the addictive substance, hope the customer connects it with the other ingredient, and make as much money as you can while riding the wave.
Next hype, please?
Here