Connect Four, anyone?

As a life-long dieter and coffee drinker, I have made the slow, steady transition from pink cancer-causing packets to blue headache-inspiring packets to the lovely yellow packets of Splenda (whatever warnings are out I don't want to know... I like my coffee tasting like melted ice cream and still need to fit into my pants). Of course, once the light-green stevia derivatives make their way to the table, all bets are off, but that is a topic for another day...

At any rate, last Saturday my five-year old daughter and I were enjoying a lovely brunch at the Silver Diner in Lakeforest Mall. When my hot cup of caffeine arrived, I reached for my go-to no calorie sweetener, clearly the outsider in the well-stocked little sugar tray.



I began to tear open my sweetener when I realized that the yellow rectangle in my hand was not the Splenda I expected. Instead, I was holding a very sneakily re-branded serving of Equal.



I was taken by the way Equal had used both yellow paper and blue print to mirror Splenda's branding. Had I not been paying attention, I might have missed the change. If I had an acute allergy (yes, Nutrasweet sweeteners do cause me occasional headaches) the result could have been disastrous.

This attempt to utilize the natural results of powerful and effective branding (Splenda's) by a competitor (Equal) seems like a sad, desperate move. Equal looks bad, the "yellow packet" credibility is hurt- a complete lose/lose situation.

But, the episode reminds me that, as a consumer, I am responsible for making my own informed choices. Branding provides an opportunity for a company or product to establish specific expectations but doesn't always make specific promises. In this instance, I have to believe in the product (Splenda) as a separate entity from the brand image (yellow packet) and keep my guard up against those who would twist my preconceived notions to further their own goals.