Branding
It Gets You OUT THERE
“Branding” is a powerful form of marketing that makes your company recognizable, as it did domestic cattle roaming about in the Wild West. It is a cost effective way to make your logo visible to people that may not be reading your print ads or watching your television commercials. This is an especially good tool here in Hawaii where we have anti-billboard laws.
It Says Who You Are
When the marketing team at Foodland designed or approved these plastic bags I’m sure they did not want to say, “We don’t care about our environment and wildlife.” I stopped to take this photo this morning while walking around Ala Moana Beach Park. If I had tongs or gloves I would have picked it up and placed it in a near-by trash can, but even that would not make it safe.
Our society is becoming aware of how destructive plastic is to our environment and wildlife. Now is the time for companies that are using plastic bags to STOP, and convert to cloth. I wonder who the first grocer will be to take that step.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:06 am
What a great photo and message. Diamond Head in the distance, the ocean before it, and the plastic bag just waiting for the wind to come along and blow it into the ocean on on towards Diamond Head.
We all need to just say, No plastic” when shopping, and they will eventually get the message.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Geeze, where I thought you were headed with that photo had to do with Hawaii as a brand. The photo shows a deserted beach. I did not know you had taken it early in the morning. Don’t give the fear mongers this photo or they will use it to show how bad tourism is and how tourists are not coming to Hawaii any more. I can almost see the headline now: Poor Economy Leads to Deserted Beaches in Hawaii or Nothing but Trash Bags Line Hawaii Beaches.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Wow; did Bob miss the point here or what?
August 5th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Yes he sure did!!!
This is about plastic bags, not tourism, but if people don’t start respecting the environment, it could become a tourism thing.
Keep telling it like it is Ron!
August 5th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
No, I did not miss the point. Trying to have some fun with Ron’s constant message about the negative headlines. A bigger issue for me: Why not just pick it up if it is such a big deal. But that’s me.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Ron Here;
-I’m glad to hear that Bob didn’t miss the point. Plastic bags are a bigger problem than the vast majority knows about.
-The fact is that I have a number of topics I am concerned about, and wite about.
-Like Bob, negative headlines are high on my list.
-Plastic bags is a new issue for me, and the more I read about what they do to the environment, the more I want to get people to stop using them. One person doing that can make a difference. Picking up one bag won’t.
-Another hot topic for me is customer service and the lack of selling that goes on.
-Another is health, excercise and food.
-There are many other topics and issues that I care about, and most have nothing to do with each other.
-I try my best not to mix these up and maintain catagories. I have also added a search box to help you find topics that are of interest to you.
-I hope that I won’t take away from one issue, or confuse anyone while writing about a different one; they are all important to me.
And… I love your comments.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Yes, plastic bags can be a problem, but lets not blame the manufacturers.
The consumer/user is the one to blame. If one makes the choice to use plastic, one must be responsible for it’s use and proper recycling/disposal. Garbage and trash on our aina of all types is a huge problem here in Hawaii.
Hopefully Ron’s blog has made users more conscious of their decisions and choices, encouraging them to make a better lifestyle choice.
Older people will remember when paper bags used to be the standard for groceries. Consumers started using plastic to save trees because plastic was a better use of recycled material….we didn’t know the hazards…only the benefits that were pitched to us. Then, it became clear that plastic was being ingested by land and sea animals and is extremely hazardous.
Now, don’t get me started on those 6 pack plastic thingies that soda cans come in, just be sure to cut them up before disposal.
Thanks Ron for sharing your blog with everyone.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I too salute Ron for this Blog. The graphics make it stand out like no others, and the message (usually) is right on target.
Unfortunately, I still think that “Bob” did miss the point. This post is not about trash in the environment, it’s about the ignorance surrounding the impact of plastic bags. Picking up that bag on the beach and putting into a trash can is almost the same as tossing it out into the ocean to get it out of sight. There’s a good chance that’s where it will end up.
What we need to do is put a stop to their use all together. As “Sunny” states, it was a bad invention; we know that now. If by saying “the consumer”, “Sunny” is talking about the merchants handing products to customers in plastic bags, she is right. That’s where it must be stopped.
The end consumer can make a difference as well by refusing to accept goods in plastic. People should carry cloth bags when shopping, and help merchants understand the depth of their ignorance.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I’m with Bob on this one. If it bothers you enough, just pick it up; if not shut up.
Many trees have been saved since the invention of plastic. If a whale or dolphin is dumb enough to mistake a plastic bag for a mackerel; so be it. At least there was a choice made there, whereas the tree has no say so when the chain saw shows up to cut it down.
None of us are getting out of here alive anyway, so let’s just make the time we have as comfortable as we can, and plastic bags serve us very well.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I looked up “Reality Check” in the dictionary;
stupid |ˈst(y)oōpid|
adjective ( -pider, -pidest)
lacking intelligence or common sense
August 28th, 2008 at 4:30 am
alohas ron
when i saw the picture of the plastic bag i must say i looked at in a totaly different way
instead of a lemon i say lets make lemonaid
that bag in our current enviormetality is actualy a tool to be used
imagine how much trash could be put in it and thrown into the garbage
they hold a lot, and you can always wash your hands later
for years i have been picking up trash from my favorite surf spots
in these bags that were conveintly left there for me, i do look at these as an opportunity to get started ,dont wait till the yearly beach clean up
look around they are there when you need them
just pick up a little and youll feel good pick up alot and youll feel great!
i do every time as a matter of fact my wife said thats why she married me , on one of our first dates to the beach i picked up the trash around our area , it only took minutes less time than i would have spent complaining about it actually, and it looked nice afterwards
and i still have a loving wife and we still pick up a little trash on our walks , how can you not and still complain?
hey ron ITS EASY!
joe