Lost in the Supermarket: A discourse on Post-modern life through the grocery store with an appearance by Jesus

Im all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality

I know cliche to start a paper out with song lyrics but this is the last one I have to write for a while. American life has become all signals with nothing to signify and no one to receive the message. While there are a plethora of examples to use on the ideas of post-modern life, I chose the good old supermarket. A place that everyone goes to and for the most part likes. In many ways the supermarket determines how a person likes the area he or she is living in. If the supermarket is nice then it seems like they have a better feeling about the entire area. Since most working people spend most of there days in the office, where they live really plays very little role in life. A suburban office park in Kentucky will look very similar to a suburban office park in California. But the grocery store is where the difference is made.

I remember that I hated many aspects of Florida. It was hot, ugly, bad food, and poorly designed. All of these things are true but I realized that what I was remembering was my neighborhood Albertsons. When I visited my old home town and saw just how lousy the store was I figured out why I hated the place so much. But enough rambling on this subject time to begin my real idea.

That is what you walk in to and out of: a candy stand. Big bright colors of nothingness. The candy will not provide and sort of nutrition and the packaging disguises the small amount of candy that you will actually get, but it sells and people buy it. If you look more closely at the packaging you will notice something that is very disturbing to me the trends when it comes to packaging. A flavor will be assigned a color and it will be the same style, color, and flavor no matter which company it is.




This further proves my idea. That is a picture of three different brands version of chicken flavored cat food. This pictures says two things to me about postmodern life: First that we have gone in sane with choices. If our cats require three versions of the same flavor food, then we have in fact lost it. They are cats, they are pets, they do not need options they need food. Second it shows that if you want a go no where job where you do not have to be original: go into label design. Look at those cans they look the same, this can not be by accident. Either A) the designers are copying off each other or B) they are hoping you grab the wrong can and give your 89 cents to friskies instead of nine lives.

Here is the same idea only with apricot jam and chili





Another serious problem society has is options. Never before has there been this many options. Can someone please tell me why society needs 10 different kinds of milk and who is buying all these different brands anyway? How is the store brand 2% milk any different from the private company's 2% milk? Both come from cows and both are white. Seems like it should be almost the exact same.



Even worse are naked juices. They are worse because the juice is great but why does society need all these different options. Twenty years ago there was four types of juice: Apple juice, Grape Juice, Orange juice, and Cranberry juice. The last two probably were not in most states but since I am writhing this in California I am certain they had all four. But now I have mango and pear and kiwi and wheat grass. When did wheat grass become a juice, I want to know. All of these choices and signals for one very basic intended message: DRINK ME YOU ARE THIRSTY



The last point is why do company's make the same cereal twice? Clearly the same company manufactures these cereals. And why do we as a society feel the urge to pay more for the name brand when the same company make the store brand as well?






As you may have noticed all of these cereals are named the same thing. And they all have the same colors and have the same logos. IT baffles the mind why people pay more for brand name items. But I do it just as anyone else.



This picture seems to conflict the very message that religion represents. This is a candle of Jesus. And he is watching society shop for brand name products which in many ways have become modern idols. And inevitably right across the aisle from that candle was a picture of Mickey mouse the ultimate false idol. Yes these are the contradictions that are postmodern life. Hope you all had the same fun I did.