Module 14 Example: Single-Waste Coffee

PROMPT
Explore a mass-produced product that has been created nearly entirely for simple consumption.  Examine one or more advertisements/commercials for this product and explore how the company presents it as a convenience, an essential to daily life, or something you just have to acquire. 

If you need help with some examples, you might find them here:

• 25 Wasteful Things You Can Live Without
• 10 Things That are Super Convenient but Also SUPER Wasteful
• 13 Products That Are Unnecessary and Wasteful

In your blog post, explain the following:

• What is the mass-produced item?  Explain what it is and how it is wasteful.
• Link to or embed at least two examples of this product being sold. 
• Explain the ways in which the product appeal to audiences.
• Identify problems with the production and selling of the good according to the material from this week.
  

Relevant Labels/Tags:  consumerism, mass production, waste, [product you are discussion],

EXAMPLE

The rise of Keurig cups and machines in the last decade has been a disappointing surprise.  I was fascinated by the proliferation of coffee shops (namely, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks) since the 1980s, but while they don't seem to be stopping any time soon, we also see a growing abundance of Keurig machines.  For those who aren't familiar, there are small cups filled with concentrated coffee and coffee grinds that are popped into a machine that will generate a cup of coffee.  Basically, each small plastic cup generates one cup of coffee.  If you are like me and drink way more coffee than you should (some days, I may hit 6-8 cups), that would mean 6-8 plastic cups that are off to the garbage dump (note:  I don't use Keurig cups, I cold-brew my coffee in 1-gallon batches with minimal environmental impact).  Thus, the waste factor for Keurigs is pretty significant.  Never mind that these packets come in packaging when sold in stores, they are single use-products that can easily accumulate double digit waste per person with a day or two. 

What's interesting about the Keurig is that it pulls in people on two fronts.  The first is the Keurig machine, which is a machine, like most modern machines, cheap and susceptible to breaking down (and therefore needing a new one).  There's also the Keurig cups themselves that one needs to regularly purchase.  Thus, the user is not just buying a singular machine, but ultimately subscribing to their wasteful product. 

In terms of their advertising, I submit the following images and conversations. 

Source

This particular ad not only encourages users to feel negative sentiment but seems to promise that they will save time by having a Keurig.  They will still have to wait in line to buy the cups every so often, which is something the ad seems to ignore.  More importantly though, it encourages the viewer to feel like 60 seconds is the only amount of time they need in order to acquire their coffee--but that's just the amount of time needed for the Keurig to make the coffee.  It doesn't take into account the buying of Keurig, the transporting and storing of the Keurig cup.  Nor does it consider the time in which you must retrieve each Keurig cup each day as well as get a coffee mug and eventually throw out the Keurig cup and wash the cup.  It's hinting at simplicity when in fact, it isn't. 

Source.

Why is coffee courage?  What is courageous about coffee?  As a stimulant, it certainly doesn't give you courage but somehow, writing it in a manner that makes one think of coffee and somehow implying that Keurig is the coffee cup of courage makes sense for this full-page ad.  If Keurig coffee is "courage", then what does it say that it is single-use and quickly disposable?