Ali Lantz

9 December 2019

Making Choices In the Snack Aisle

Picture this. You are a kid again, walking up and down the many aisles of the grocery

store because your parents dragged you along to do that week's grocery shopping. You turn the

corner and a wall of colorful packaging filled with the tastiest snacks appears in front of you.

You beg your parents to buy some, but no matter how much you plead, the answer is no. How

could they deny you from these wonderful, colorful, tasty snacks? A bag of cheetos, pringles, ritz

crackers, or M&M’s are enough to make any child go wild. As a kid walking down the snack

aisle of a grocery store, you may not see the various packaging of snacks as a genre of its own,

however, its definition proves otherwise. The genre of food packaging is intentionally produced

with big, bold and bright letters on the front of a brightly colored background in order to grab the

consumer’s gaze and convince them to buy the snacks on the shelves. It also includes short

sentences and phrases to get a clear message across.

All four examples of food packaging have very similar characteristics. They include large

and bold words printed in bright, colorful letters or a bright or colorful background meant to grab

the customer’s attention and many examples of packaging often include both of these

characteristics. The bright and bold letters and a bright background are found on the Ritz

Crackers packaging which has big yellow letters and red background, on the Pringles packaging

which has large yellow letters and various background colors depending on flavor, and on the

Cheetos packaging which has huge yellow letters and an orange and red background. The bright

yellow letters make it easy for customers to see the name of the snack and draw their attention
towards it. Not every packaging contains bright letters, but the characteristics they do have are

there for a similar reason. While not as bright, the M&M's packaging follows a similar pattern of

large, bold letters to indicate the name of the snack. The packaging also contains other

characteristics such as having a brightly colored background. In this case, the bright red

background is enough to grab the attention of the shopper and the large font allows them to

easily see the name of the snack that they are looking at. Along with large words and bright

colors, each example of the genre possesses some sort of picture meant to capture the gaze of a

consumer. The Cheetos Packaging uses the mascot, Chester the Cheetah, on the front and the

Pringles and M&M’s packaging use their respective mascot as well. Seeing the image of a

mascot on the front of the snacks makes the food itself appear fun and playful. People are more

likely to buy a snack that they think will signify a good time, especially if they are planning on

enjoying the snack with a group of friends. Ritz Crackers is slightly different in its form of

advertising. It uses a picture of the actual cracker which is enhanced to make consumers’ mouths

water as they look at the picture. This appeal is meant to make the snack seem like a more calm

food to enjoy and would be targeted towards those who are looking for a savory, and maybe even

more healthy, taste in their snacks. The savory appeal is meant to grab at the adults while the

more fun and playful mascots are best for appealing to a younger audience, however, the snacks

are packaged to be sold to both young and old alike. A less prominent characteristic that can be

found on each example is the main nutrition information written on the front. This is to give a

quick overview so customers can feel as if they are making their purchases based off of logical

facts and what they are purchasing is more healthy than it might actually be. The more specific
information is located on the back in smaller words with more plain colors and further helps to

convince customers to purchase snacks.

The genre of food packaging was produced with the ultimate goal to convince hungry

consumers to buy a certain snack while they are out shopping. The authors of these food

packaging want to sell their product to hungry people who are shopping at their local grocery

store, or at another location in which snacks are available. Each package has a different author

depending on who produces the snack or food inside. Ritz crackers are produced by Nabisco,

M&Ms by Mars incorporated, Pringles by Kelloggs, and Cheetos by PepsiCo. Although the

snacks are produced by different companies, each brand uses similar tactics on the packaging to

get the consumers to purchase their snack over another snack. Appeal to numbers is commonly

used by adding some nutrition facts which convinces consumers that this company’s snack is the

best or healthiest due to its low carbs or low sodium. Main health information like this is

normally found on the front to make it easier for consumers to notice and read when seeing the

snack. The appeal to numbers also makes the decision easier for the customer, allowing them to

quickly compare each snack to each other if they feel the need to do so.

Although each packaging was made by a different author, all made similar decisions for

the packaging because of a common end goal. Since the four examples all fit under the definition

of a genre, they all have similar genre conventions within the genre itself. They follow guidelines

for what it is meant to be that specific genre. In order to be a part of the genre, the packaging

must have similar characteristics to each other and have a similar intended purpose. In this case,

they also have similar audiences. Because they are all in the same genre, the author must make

similar choices to get the intended reaction out of the packaging. The similar wording and
placement of language around the package shows that all four authors have a similar end goal in

mind. Ultimately, the producers want to sell their product and this is done quickest by following

the same conventions for food packaging.

Unfortunately, when making the packaging, the producers have a lot to keep in mind. The

producers must understand the constraints of a package and fit the characteristics within the

provided constraints. They need to fit all the information on the package, but the package needs

to be big enough to fit the snack inside without being oversized. Making the packaging too big is

a waste of resources and making the package too small will make the customer think they are not

getting enough snack to make it worth the purchase. These sizes vary depending on the actual

contents of the package and how many people the snack is intended for. For example, a bag of

M&M’s is smaller than a family size bag of Cheetos because the M&M’s have a smaller serving

size and is meant for one person to enjoy while the Cheetos are meant for multiple people and

tend to take up more space per serving. In this case, the customer understands the size constraints

and is more likely to choose a package that is the right size for the occasion that they are

purchasing for. The producers are also constrained by how much they can afford to produce.

Adding detail on the boxes can add up so they need to make sure they are adding enough to

make the customer buy the food without putting so much detail that either the customer is thrown

off or they are not able to make enough of the packaging with their limited funds. With the

constraints of size and funding, producers must carefully decide how they want the packaging to

look like so it still retains the necessary genre conventions and makes a profit at the same time.

All four examples of food packaging share the same short or incomplete sentences that

are used to make the message on the packaging simple, but clear and effective. There are longer
sentences included on the back as nutrition facts and distribution info so consumers can find any

extra information they might need. Other complete sentences include the distribution information

which can be found so consumers can contact the distributors, or the authors, with any needs or

concerns. Most of the writing that is seen by the consumer, however, is on the front of the

packaging, as that is what is seen facing out on the shelves. In the bottom corner of the Ritz

packaging and the M&M packaging there is a small set of nutrition facts. These easy to access

facts are the main health information for which consumers can use to make fast decisions. The

short catchy titles informs consumers of what the product is and maybe adds a short phrase to

entice the person into choosing that snack. Other short sentences, such as “made with real

cheese” on the Cheetos packaging, may be added onto the front of the packaging so that

consumers are enticed enough to purchase the snack. These same writing techniques were used

by all four authors because all four were responding to the same issue or demand.

When a need for a snack arises, many companies jump to get theirs out there to make

money off of the hungry people. The genre of food packaging is a response to the need for

people to have a snack and a solution to the issue of how people figure out which snack they

would like the best, or which one fits best with their own dietary habits. The producers

understand that the customer will only look at the packaging for a few seconds before making a

decision which causes the writing to be more informal and straight to the point so the companies

do not lose the customer’s interest. Most of the language that does appear in full sentences are

simplified so the average customer can read and understand the information that is provided to

them. Anything important that could influence the consumers' opinion is located on the front of

the box where it can be easily gazed upon.

 Overall, producers of snacks and food packaging create the packaging to draw attention

to it on the shelves and convince customers to buy the food on the shelves. Through the use of

big, bold, and bright letters, the authors are able to convince customers to look and try out their

snacks. Subtle appeal to numbers also convinces the customers that there could be potential

health benefits to choosing their snack over a competing brand. The M&Ms, Ritz Crackers,

Cheetos and Pringles packaging are all brands that follow these simple genre conventions and

shine a light on the genre as a whole. Many producers make these same decisions when

designing their food packaging in order to make a profit and convince consumers that this is the

right snack for them to choose.