You definitely have a point. The sheer variety of a single
product class can be overwhelming. And the units in which the
size is given are the least that the consumer has to worry about.
In a limited sense, this is already happening. Few months ago, I wrote about the Simply Orange and Tropicana Premium cafares (1.75L). Yesterday I found myself in the isle with cleaning producs. Staring right back at me were 2L refill bottles of Windex and an equivalent generic product. Windex actually highlighted their label with something like "The big 2-liter refill." The refill bottle for a wood floor cleaner that I use is also metric, at 1L. The shampoo isle is probably the most obvious place to look for rational metric sizes of consumer goods. Oftentimes, I see that the metric value is given first, and the USC follows, even on shampoos with rational fl. oz. sizes. Anyways, the USMA website has a list that dwarfs these few examples.
I certainly have not heard about any kind of backlash. Shampoos still sell, refill bottles go off the shelves, etc. The companies that are taking a lead in this should be congratulated. I am definitely writing Johnson & Son to give them a big thumbs up on the gutsy Windex refill bottle label.
Now, how do we get a consumer products manufacturer to realize they
can switch at least some items to metric-size packages and NOT suffer
any consequences? Plus realize the benefits of having the same
package sizes all over the world.
In a limited sense, this is already happening. Few months ago, I wrote about the Simply Orange and Tropicana Premium cafares (1.75L). Yesterday I found myself in the isle with cleaning producs. Staring right back at me were 2L refill bottles of Windex and an equivalent generic product. Windex actually highlighted their label with something like "The big 2-liter refill." The refill bottle for a wood floor cleaner that I use is also metric, at 1L. The shampoo isle is probably the most obvious place to look for rational metric sizes of consumer goods. Oftentimes, I see that the metric value is given first, and the USC follows, even on shampoos with rational fl. oz. sizes. Anyways, the USMA website has a list that dwarfs these few examples.
I certainly have not heard about any kind of backlash. Shampoos still sell, refill bottles go off the shelves, etc. The companies that are taking a lead in this should be congratulated. I am definitely writing Johnson & Son to give them a big thumbs up on the gutsy Windex refill bottle label.
Jim Elwell
Jim Elwell, CAMS
Electrical Engineer
Industrial manufacturing manager
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
www.qsicorp.com
