Going the Extra Mile

After many trials and tribulations, I discovered the best deodorant ever made and it was only $3.04. (Seriously, find it here).

Price shouldn't matter that much anyway. I can't imagine that the technology of deodorant has come that far in the last 20 years, so far as to create such a vast range in pricing. Is it so much to ask for a product that works well and is a reasonable price? What happened to taking pride in the product you make??

Capitalism, that's my theory as to what happened. The classic quantity over quality battle.

Well, I'm here to say, that quality and taking pride in one's product has not completely gone to the wayside.

Exhibit A: Degree for Women, Red Satin Dress Ultra Clear deodorant. It smells good, it goes on clear, and it works all day/night. What's even better, is that it sells for $1 - $4 less than all the other options.

Do you know how much dedication I had to have to find it? About 15 years worth... Think about it: from the time you first start wearing deodorant, then using each for 2-3 months, almost exhausting the entire aisle of types and brands? (If I weren't in to the whole waste-not-want-not concept, I guess it could have been a little quicker...as I begrudgingly forced myself to use each til I was scraping my armpit with cold hard plastic.) To be fair, I hit a phase of repetition forced upon me by my bottom of the barrel college budget. Strategy = whatever I can buy with this handful of change left at the bottom of my backpack.

Exhibit B: Red Bull energy drinks. Have you ever noticed the difference in the tab of the can? It matches the can and it has a little cut out bull instead of the normal oval hole. Is there purpose to either of those undoubtedly extra-costly features? Only that it shows they take pride in their product.

In no way am I implying that branded products are better than generic. I am a big proponent of generic products. Which leads me to ....

Exhibit C: Staples 5mm Correction Tape. First of all, if you haven't yet moved from liquid white-out to the tape, get on it - your life will be forever changed by the concept. Secondly, the Staples brand is less expensive, and in my opinion works 10x better than it's competition which often gets tangled and bunched up.

Exhibit D: Kleenex Facial Tissues (product MJT010). Ever bummed because you just went to the store to buy your toiletries, only to find the next day that the tissue you grabbed is the last of the box? Solution: the above mentioned tissues. When you reach the last 10 tissues, they are pastel orange (instead of white) to denote you are running low. Again, not a required feature, they do it because its nice, because they can, and because they have pride in their work.

Long story short, there are still good, well-made, practical, fairly-priced products out there. So don't descriminate and definitely don't settle for less. If the demand surges toward better products, guess what? They'll create them!