Candy and diapers?

I understand marketing. I even find some marketing to be quite lovely. I do not mind being persuaded to buy this or that by an ad here or there, because I know I am smart enough to not fall for an illusion, I am smart enough to take in the advertising for what it is worth and still use my own mind to make a conscious decision if the product is right for me or not. I enjoy seeing the artistic side of advertising, whether it be the actual art, the writing and all the other skills that go into influencing the mass population. What I do not like one bit is tacky, malicious marketing behavior. Trickery used in trying to make a sale. Acts that are aimed at ultimately causing harm, no matter how slight the harm may be, really leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Enter me, a mom, in a local grocery store. I am a woman who tries to provide her family with the best products out there that nourish the body and mind. I do this by using coupons in order to "nourish" our bank account. I also try and "nourish" public spaces by maintaining a well behaved child through proper discipline techniques and a smattering of love and affection of course. It infuriates me to know end when I happen across a marketing technique in a store that is just preposterous.

This week I slid my buggy down the aisle at Kroger, the aisle mind you that contained the Baby products. You know. Butt Paste, smashed up food, diapers. The necessities. Baby DIVA was casually directing me from her perch in the buggy too. I was horrified to discover that the opposite side of the Baby Product aisle housed nothing other than ALL the candy the store had to offer.

What moron in the marketing or store design team would do this? Sure it might boost candy sales, but the trade off is a significant loss. A screaming child being pushed around in the buggy by a flustered parent because said parent has to navigate an entire grocery store aisle while screeching "no" to a begging child for a piece of candy, can almost certainly result in a pissed off customer, who will not return to your store. Not to mention all the other customers who are then forced to listen to annoying cries of a strangers kid who is whining for candy all because some idiot decided it would be a great sale boosting plan to put candy on an aisle that parents most certainly will have to take kids down. And let us not even touch on the fact that America has an obesity problem and so lets go ahead and start shoving candy influences down their throats from infancy. Way to go team! My "nourishing" nature of my family and those around me were instantly shot to crap.

Smooth move guys!