Are you a human being or a grape lollipop?

This may be the most cryptic blog post headline I’ve ever written. Sorry if I’ve confused you but, it’s the best I could do. I sincerely have an important message to share with you today about human beings and your marketing … and it starts with grape lollipops.

But it says “grape!”

Did you ever stop to think about a grape lollipop?

I do. All the time.

Whenever you see a purple piece of candy labeled “grape,” you know what it means. It suggests a certain flavor.

But in reality, this flavor is NOT grape. A purple piece of “grape” candy tastes nothing like a real grape. It contains no grape, it isn’t even the same color as a natural grape.

Who in the world of candy history thought of calling this thing “grape?” They could have named this candy flavor “Milwaukee” and it would have been just as accurate.

But somehow, the global industrial candy supply chain determined this strange flavor was going to define “grape.” And, so it is. Today we consume vast quantities of candy, Fanta soft drinks, and even Dimetapp and are conditioned to expect this faux-grape flavor.

It’s grape as defined by the business world, not our human experience.