Some dumb stuff

• VDOT mulls shutting down I-81 restrooms to save 12 million dollars a year ... several years after spending a reported 20 million to renovate them. Huh? A "measly" 12 million? Would we rather have motorists pulling off on the side of the road to pee, or truckers taking a snooze on the shoulders? VDOT needs to look elsewhere for savings - like, no doubt, its top-heavy management. Rest areas are a must! This is DUMB.

• Tropicana orange juice returns to older carton label: good ol' Tropicana OJ changed its distinctive label to a bland package that looked like a generic store brand. So much so that apparently some passed it up in the juice aisle. At Christmas time my mom went on and on about the change in labels, then even wrote a letter to the company complaining about it. (yes, and old-fashioned letter). The sides of the containers were awful, mostly words and crappy graphics.

Here's what "The Brand Man" from the Portnoy Group said on line about the new label:

"The design is so awful and so recessive on the supermarket shelf that stores like my local Ralph's now have hanging signs (never seen before in the refrigerator section) to point out that this new look indeed is the old tried and true Tropicana brand orange juice....can you say ugly? As a focus group moderator of many years, I cannot imagine that Pepsi tested this new packaging anywhere except among their in-house branding folks. In a kitchen research test I did against the other major brands 100% of participants thought new Tropicana was a store brand of lower quality than the old Tropicana packaged juice. Not good for Pepsico especially in this tough economic climate...they should go back to the old packaging or fix this one immediately."
So, Tropicana announced a few days ago it is returning to the old label, saying "gee, we didn't realize how many people missed the old one," or words to that effect. In a world where old brand names and familiar companies are biting the dust left and right, folks are looking for things to hold on to. Think "New" Coke vs. Classic Coke on a much smaller scale. Think DUMB.

• USAirways decides that hey, it won't keep charging fliers for soda, coffee and other soft drinks, especially since other airlines did not follow through when it made the policy change a while back. Its not bad enough that you have to fly on overcrowded planes, with delays the norm, with bad air and cabins that haven't been cleaned. Not to mention a lack of food on most flights. Then you had to pay for a Coke, after paying for your overpriced ticket out of Roanoke. Hey, USAirways, worry more about how to keep your planes out of the Hudson River (props to Sully & Crew of course).

And USAirways wonders why its going broke. DUMB

that's my rant for today.