WHO WE ARE: The land of big buyers

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

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A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 25/5/2008
You want to be typical, doncha? Unless you want to be exceptional. Either way, you need to know what typical is before you can rejoice in your empathy with the masses or in your elite status far above them. That's where this column and the research organisation ACNielsen come in.

Every two years the Nielsen boffins do a survey of the 100 products most purchased in Australian supermarkets, and every two years this column uses it to generate a portrait of a day in the life of a typical Australian family (lets call them Michael and Julie Jones, their daughter Jessica, 19, and their son Ben, 14). Here's Australia through its shopping habits, 2008:

The Joneses wake up and head for the bathroom, where they wipe with Kleenex Cottonelle, shampoo with Pantene and deodorise with Rexona. Michael shaves with Gillette and Julie and Jessica insert Libra.

In the kitchen, Ben feeds Whiskas to Soxie and Pedigree Pal to Max, and spreads Vegemite on toasted Tip Top for himself. Michael and Julie pour Paul's into their Nescafe Blend 43 and over their Weet-Bix.

Jessica swallows a glass of Golden Circle pineapple and a tub of Yoplait. On the way to her bus, she smokes a Winfield (the first of her four for the day) and chews an Extra so her breath won't smell.

Julie puts on a load with Omo, makes Ben a sandwich with Bega cheese and Hans salami, and drives him to school in their silver Holden Commodore.

For lunch Julie makes herself a can of Campbell's. Jessica has an Uncle Toby's muesli bar and a couple of squares of Cadbury's. When he gets some from school Ben has a packet of Smith's and a glass of Milo. When she gets home from work, Jessica has two Tim Tams and a can of Diet Coke. Julie's afternoon tea is Arnott's Shapes.

For dinner, Julie makes a sauce with Leggo's tomato paste, McCain frozen peas and John West tuna, to put over San Remo rigatoni. Michael drinks a can of VB, Julie has a glass of Jacob's Creek chardonnay. For dessert they eat Goulburn Valley tinned fruit with Peter's icecream.

Julie covers the leftovers with Glad, to avoid attracting cockroaches (although she sprays with Mortein once a week). They wash up with Finish and brush with Colgate. Then they watch TV, using a remote powered by Energiser.

Jessica goes out for a drink with her boyfriend and they end up at his place. If he used a condom, it would be Ansell, but he doesn't, so in ten months time Jessica will be buying Huggies.

Now you know the products that make the most money in Australian supermarkets. Only two of the brands I mentioned are made by Australian companies - and we'll get to that issue next week.

To discuss what all this says about Australians, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

The popular list of food items mentioned in your article shows the unhealthy pattern of our life. It is no wander if the national health care bill would soare to maximum levels as the rate of cancer cases increases. Australia needs a lot of education on how to eat wisely.

by kamal Tadros on May 25, 2008 at 12:14 AM

All this shows is Australians are just victims of the commercial foreign empires now occupying this counties. Like the commercial products it is not about what nutrition the products contain but the name of the brand. It also makes a mockery of the current Government advertising in eating fresh fruit and vegetables.
This is like the America portrayed in the movies and the television - where the primary producer is literally light-years away from the people sitting around kitchen table.
Only Weet-Bix here really helps with the ablutions...

by AJames on May 25, 2008 at 03:43 AM

If Jessica was using Libra that day, she wasn't using Huggies 10 months later. Cute story, just being picky...

by Steph on May 25, 2008 at 04:08 AM

All I can say is that proves just how much we mindlessly swallow/munch/consume advertising propoganda, and pay extra for the sake of a colourful brand name.

by Emma on May 25, 2008 at 05:48 AM

Sad. Maybe this is a list of favourite products but probably not a fair [or far fetched] representation of eating habits - but to think Australians firstly consume so much and secondly cook food so little without using real food [ingredients] ratehr than processsed food... Sad and maybe scary?

by Vince Heffernan on May 25, 2008 at 05:49 AM

Our typical teenage girls are fat, sexually irresponsible, smokers and drinkers!! Thats nice.

DD replies: No, only Jessica. And where do you get the idea she's fat or a drinker?

by Andy on May 25, 2008 at 06:50 AM

When did a "tin of soup" become a "can of soup"? Is "tin" a dying expression in Australian English? Maybe my valuea re mixed up (I suspect so) but this "can/canned" usage is the thing which offended me most.
Soon we'll be hearing about "freight trains" and buying "gas" at the "gas station".

by Batlow on May 25, 2008 at 06:53 AM

So Jessica is just like thousands of other smokers who think that chewing gum or a mint can disgise the pervasive stench of cigarette smoke from their breath....sad and very mistaken.

by nonsmoker on May 25, 2008 at 08:21 AM

This is a worry. Not a bit of fresh fruit/veg in sight, and all those bought biccies etc for snacks.
I hope that reflects that fresh fruit and veg aren't (yet) branded, which gives us a disturbing message about how much actual money there is to be made growing them ie not much.
Just as an aside, has anyone else noticed that Glad Wrap is not as good as it used to be ie thinner and tends to stick to itself rather than everything else?

DD replies: To be fair, the ACNielsen survey did not include fresh fruit and veg, only branded products.

by Iorek on May 25, 2008 at 09:36 AM

People you need to think before typing. Forget about the brands we're using, it's the quality of the minds we're producing that scares me...

1) In case you missed it, it's a BRAND survey, so fresh fruit, veg, meats won't be included - nor will the generic equivalents. ACNeilsen is about ratings and advertising, not about nutrition.

2) In case you missed it, the story is a writer's attempt at taking the Neilsen findings and transposing them into a "typical" day. It is not the every day.

3) "Nonsmoker", I really hope you're not seriously having a dig at an invented person here ... once again, it's just the writer's attempt to convey two more popular brands in his story. (Note to Mr Dale - suggest next time you link chewing gum with the most popular brand of garlic to avoid being "sad and mistaken")

by Andrew on May 25, 2008 at 10:46 AM

I can't believe that so many unhealthy things were on that list! Chips, beer, Coke...
Is the survey broken down into States and regions (country vs city)? I'd be interested to know if there are any major differences.

[i] "If Jessica was using Libra that day, she wasn't using Huggies 10 months later. Cute story, just being picky..."

by Steph on May 25, 2008 at 04:08 AM [/i]

Not necessarily - it would depend on the day of her cycle (yes, this IS picky! sorry)

by Mango on May 25, 2008 at 11:28 AM

To all those people who complain that this lifestyle is an unhealthy innovation stemming from foreign influence... as long as I can remember, and I am in my 40s, we never ate that much fresh fruit and veggies and we did eat canned fruit and ice-cream. The diet of these people do not sound unhealthy to me. It's the lack of exercise, smoking and drinking that will do most of us in.

by Sarah on May 25, 2008 at 11:33 AM

My goodness, I didn't realise how different I am to those on the Survey!
Bathroom: I make my own soap and shampoo bar - much cheaper and better than the commercials, and I don't need a conditioner (don't need Libra, either). I can't stand the taste of toothpaste so I use bicarbonate of soda - which is also useful if I have reflux.
Kitchen: I do feed the cat Wiskas, but she is getting more interested in what I cook so her 'wet food' diet is likely to change. I buy fruit and vegies at the Market so have lots on hand. Biscuits - not really, I munch on the dried fruit I make when the fruit is on special. I'll go along with the wine, although my preference is a red (which I buy at auction).
All this proves to me is that the supermarkets don't make a lot of money out of me!

by Aromamerinda on May 25, 2008 at 11:54 AM

Jessica smokes Winfields! Hah! No wonder she becomes a teen mother. And she has a job and therefore isn't studying at 19 so $5 says she's a trainee hairdresser or works at the supermarket where they buy all this. Now a classy, smelly, educated emphysema affected teen would be smoking Benson and Hedges at least.
By the way I liked how your story had the stay at home mother doing all the cooking. Very reminiscent of the past that you seem to enjoy so much.
If Australian's purchase overseas brands its usually because we don't produce them for the same low price, don't spend as much money on R & D, or effective branding. If you make it and I like it I'll buy it. I'm not going to buy an inferior product out of some misplaced loyalty, and for those of you who say that this will cause unemployment, if your company isn't competitive and can't keep up, perhaps you deserve to be bought out or closed down. Welcome to capitalism where losers are never rewarded.

by Kate on May 25, 2008 at 02:17 PM

I must be less than "average". The only brand here that i used today was "Weet-Bix" (with "So Good", and no sugar)
But thanks, Mr Dale - always an interesting page!

by WD on May 25, 2008 at 09:41 PM

Hootsville.
Of that list, Grouch had one hit: Vegemite. For everything else, I buy cleaner, greener, or fresh.
So Grouch makes his own soup, thanks very much, no tins involved.

by groucho on June 01, 2008 at 06:15 AM

Hi,
I am after photos which were taken at Brookvale oval the other day of the fans. Can you help?
How do I go about getting copies?
Kind regards, Regan

DD replies: I have no idea what you are talking about. You are responding to a blog that is months old - nothing wrong with that, but you need to give us some background. What happened at Brookvale oval? Was this some kind of sporting event, political event, school fete, or what? How does it relate to the topic of the column above?

by Regan Liddle on October 13, 2008 at 11:26 AM

@Batlow I think you'll find this is a difference in geographic vernacular. It's always been a 'can' of soup in WA for example.

by Bret Treasure on December 28, 2008 at 06:24 PM

The Sun-Herald

Who We Are

WHO WE ARE: The land of big buyers

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