I picked this up on the news this week and was interested to hear Ad Age critic Bob Garfield's take on the Super Bowl ad for American Home Health. Although he loved the ad, he hated the packaging and in most cases the packaging is what will sell the product -- or not.

This is a direct quote about the product and packaging. "You can go to great lengths to prevent germs wearing a biohazard suit 24/7 or you can use the new PS line of disinfectants. A solid product intro despite dreadful packaging and logotype."

With each Super Bowl 30-second time slot costing a record $2.5 million - or $83,333 per second, you would think the company would have all their ducks (not AFLAC) in a row when it comes to product packaging. I remember the American Home Health ad, but I was more focused on the green biohazard suits so I went back and looked at the products.

The message I got from a brief glimpse of the packaging was "industrial strength." I like the strong color family concept but the colors themselves come across as harsh and the package looks rather mundane, "institutionalized" and definitely not consumer oriented. This might have been the company?s strategy to give the product the industrial strength look equating to a better stronger product. In that case, they got their message across. We will wait to see how the packaging evolves after it has been on the market and in the consumers hands for a while.

Another ad where the package was the supposed star of the show, Pepsi Light, got panned by a media critic too. ?The session features a group of men and women moaning and flirting with the can of Pepsi on a pedestal to the tune of "You want it." No thanks. Brown and bubbly...bad and burpy. Hardly appetizing.? Other media pundits also gave this ad thumbs down.

This sends a bad message to the packaging community, no matter how strongly the product is branded. I watched the commercial and didn't get the point either.

So, spend some time and think about the perception of your package with a new product launch and analyze the cost of prime time advertising. What will the consumer see in your product? Will the first impression be a good one or a negative one that will have to be overcome at a later date? Does the package invite the consumer to come for a closer look? Remember, the best advertising will fail the test if the consumer doesn't like the look of the product when they see it for themselves. With the right packaging, you can brand your product positively in the consumer?s eyes. Conversely, with the wrong packaging you can establish a lasting negative impression that can never be overcome.

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