An Open Letter to Shampoo and Conditioner Manufacturers
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to formally address a longstanding and increasingly frustrating issue with your product packaging.
We need to talk about the bottles.
Specifically, the complete lack of visual distinction between shampoo and conditioner bottles.
I understand that branding, aesthetics, color palettes, and sophisticated packaging design are important considerations in today’s competitive personal care market. However, I would argue that none of these considerations should take priority over a consumer’s ability to identify the product they are holding while standing in a shower.
Let’s be realistic. We’re getting older. Nobody is wearing their glasses in the shower. The combination of steam, water, poor lighting, and deteriorating eyesight makes identifying two nearly identical bottles an unnecessarily complicated exercise.
I routinely find myself standing there, holding a bottle approximately six inches from my face, squinting, rotating it, and attempting to decipher microscopic lettering to determine whether I am about to wash or condition my hair.
This is unacceptable.
I am therefore proposing a simple, cost-effective, and universally beneficial solution:
Put a giant S on the shampoo bottle.
Put a giant C on the conditioner bottle.
And when I say giant, I mean GIANT. Not some tasteful little embossed letter tucked beneath your corporate logo. I want these letters to be visible from across the shower. I want to be able to identify the product without having to conduct a forensic examination of the packaging.
While we’re addressing unnecessary design elements, you can also eliminate the instructions.
We have been washing our hair for decades. We understand the process. Apply. Rinse. Apply. Rinse. This is not an emerging technology, and we do not require a detailed set of operating instructions.
I would also suggest that the proposed changes could reduce unnecessary water consumption, improve shower efficiency, and potentially prevent consumers from accidentally conditioning their hair twice because they couldn’t tell the difference between the bottles.
I trust you will give this matter the serious consideration it deserves.
I look forward to seeing these changes reflected in your upcoming product lines.
Sincerely,
A consumer who just wants to wash his hair without needing his reading glasses.
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