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First of all I highly doubt we are going to see an en
masse dropping of FFU from labels in the US market. Even if some products
do show only metric and no one other then the organised resistance makes an
issue of it, does not mean the public in general is going to start becoming
gung-ho pro metric.
Most consumers, myself an example, don't pay close
attention to product labels. I pick products by their appeal to me
personally, (smell, taste, etc.) and the price (more accurately , if they are on
sale). Some people are attracted to the pretty packages and like.
As for unit pricing, it will remain FFU based. Even
existing metric products are unit priced in FFU.
Presently on supermarket shelves one sees a variety of FFU
sizes, not all in rounded numbers. Consumers don't seem to mind, thus
packages in rounded metric aren't going to catch most people's attention.
where the explosion would most likely occur is when people have to speak metric
units to others. Like, "can I have 200 g of ham please?". As I'm
writing this I can see the facial contortions as Mrs US Hausfrau tries to utter
the word "grams". Then having to worry that the patriot police don't
hear here speak an un-American word.
Labelling is one thing, but speaking it and hearing it is
a much greater battle that will have to be fought.
Euric
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, 2004-05-23 14:51
Subject: Re: [USMA:29924] Re: Metric in
the States
Since the US Government will enact legislation
which allows metric only labeling of products in grocery stores and elsewhere
by year 2010, people will become familiar with metric, particularly when unit
pricing is displayed on store shelves.
This change is necessary to allow US companies to
have a single label for worldwide consumers to avoid the cost of labeling
identical products differently.
Stan Doore
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 1:11
PM
Subject: [USMA:29924] Re: Metric in the
States
Ask those very same people about buying gasoline in
litres, hearing metric weather forecasts, buying deli items in grams and
kilograms (and I mean having to ask for amounts in metric), driving
down metric signed roads, etc. and see how many of those "metricated"
people would agree to further metrication.
Yes, it may be old hat as far as fasteners are
concerned, but that does not translate into a broad acceptance of metric by
these people elsewhere in the economy.
Brigs and Stratton changed because they may not have
had a choice. I'm sure it wasn't because they thought the metric
system was better. It might have been as simple as wanting to produce
the engine outside of the US and the foreign company doing the job wouldn't
have the American parts to do it. Or maybe they had are having a hard
time securing non-metric fasteners for their type of product as all other
users are already metric.
But for whatever the reason don't feel that the
employees of the company who may now be getting use to metric drawings and
metric parts in the shop are all of a sudden going to get a warm fuzzy
feeling about buying consumer products in anything but "good olde
'merican".
Euric
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, 2004-05-23 12:08
Subject: [USMA:29922] Metric in the
States
Hello I would like to comment on some of the
things that Chimp says about metric in the States. There
are many!! people in the States that use metric every day of their
lives. I speek of mechanics in the auto industry who work on North
American built cars. I have an interest in small gasoline engines
and was on a forum and received an e mail from an automotive instructor in
the States who has been teaching automotive mechanics for over 30
years. I asked him what it was like when the North American auto
industry changed to metric fasteners, he said it was frustrating at first
but now it's old hat. People in the medical field use metric every
day. People that design cars in North America design them in
metric. Yes there isn't as much metric for the average American as
there is even in Canada, but to say that Americans couldn't learn it
is not right. Canadians learned the metric system as far as it has
come, and we are no different than the Americans or British. I get
really annoied with people in marketing who say customers can't
understand metric. Brigs and Stratton changed the fasteners on one
of their engines from standard to metric on Jul. 1 2003 and their is talk
of them changing fasteners on more of their engines. Thank you very
much everybody for letting me ramble on. John
Mercer.
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