labels Branding/ Label design

Steve5000

Steve5000

I'm interested to know how many people are attracted or put off by 'burning ass' or satan/ skull inspired sauce labels.
Personally they are are a turn off for me and I would rather see some clever or smart textual design/artwork rather than a scull or a flaming ass, which seems to be quite prevalent, although those styles must sell units, as they are everywhere.

Sorry if this has been done before, but I am interested in peoples take on it.

Steve

Edit: Taste comes first, obviously
 
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spot on SL.

I think I posted it before, but to me, and this is just my opinion as a consumer and specifically a consumer of hot sauce, I think hot sauce is a condiment. It is something to put on food.

So labels with blood dripping skulls or death's heads or scary critters like snakes and spiders and stuff - I just don't associate those with food. I always considered them "novelty" sauces - I'm talking long before I started a hot sauce business.

But that said, someone like Blair's Death Sauce has created a highly successful brand on that sort of marketing - the little skulls with dripping wax and limited editions and collectability, so I respect the heck out of his business acumen. But along with that comes a stigma of selling branding and not being focused on a flavorful food product. I'm sure they're out there, but I don't personally know anyone who consumes that stuff regularly nor have I heard "dude, it's so good on [insert food here]" as I have with many other sauces built around flavor.

And THAT said, the last time I saw Blair's catalog at the fancy food's show, it was HUGE and extremely impressive, so credit where due - it's working for him. As a developer I used to work with once said, "there are many paths to the house next door". Each to their own and I hope anyone who has the guts to start a business finds success in whatever way they personally define it.
:cheers:
 
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k so I'm bored & came up with this

I call it nuclear power plant logo
eu292d.jpg
 
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re installed photoshop so I could fool around and do a better logo

the last one was done off some free website that's why it looked so pathetic.

<edit> Just in case some fool tries to market this..

Anyone is allowed to print and use this label for non commercial personal uses
if you steal my trademark design for business purposes I will lawyer up & find you!
</edit>

so what do you think guys?

2vnqpuc.jpg
 
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1. So i assume that is a non-commercial label (you'd have to have both ingredients and nutrition)?

2. Did you borrow that dragon from one of the AD&D covers? It looks really familiar.

3. not sure your disclaimer is worth the pixels it's printed with. :rofl:

4. what's with the 1868 date? And if it's not copywrited and you use that little "C" you can actually get in trouble I believe.

5. regarding ingredients, some feedback I got with my labels is that sauce consumers wanted to know what kind of peppers were in each sauce. So I modified the labels to that effect and I'm glad I did. If I picked up this sauce, I would have no desire to try it because I have no idea what might be in it.

6. You'll need a "romance" panel. Think of a product label as 3 components: main panel - name, logo/branding, net weight. side panel - nutrition, ingredients, manufacured by, etc. Romance panel, "this sauce is made with only the highest quality unicorn poop and fairy farts - for best results use on the severed heads of your enemies slowly roasting over a spit."

otherwise I kinda like it?

heh
 
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nope didn't steal anything and edited pretty much everything except for a non patented flame texture
using simple photoshop layers and plugin tools, transparent templates to stamp the flames,
adjusting brightness & contrast threw a semi transparent lava layered texture.

simple stuff only took me 5 hrs or so... well worth the chuckles. :lol:
 
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does this image look familiar?
http://www.awesomemy...s.com/view/2524

and now let's do a comparison of the image
which looks better?..mine
was it edited..yes
was it then stolen..no
am i taking credit for drawing it ..no
am i taking credit for editing it...yeah pretty much
it's not copyright and freely distributed for use in web pages..
is this a web page...yes
so do I see where this is going...no
here's a template for photoshop if anyone gets bored and looking to make their own label
for fun & non commercial personal uses feel free to edit how ever you like. enjoY

2j8ttx.png
 
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easy tiger, eeeeaaasy - I was just havin a little fun with ya.
:rofl:

I like the image - I like the label - was just giving you my knee-jerk thoughts. The dragon did look familiar though - wasn't accusing you of stealing anything, really. If I came off like a jerk I apologize - I was only playing around.
:cheers:

ETA:

I see above I used the word "steal" - that was poor phrasing on my part. I just thought I recognized the image and Dungeons and Dragons came to mind because I'm a huge geek. :dance:
 
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OK, I'll add my two cents on this topic.

First of all, I'm not sure too many christian types eat all this hot stuff anyway.

So who does? Why crazy mofos like us..that's who.

So then, who does all this super hot stuff attract and who is it desinged to get to buy it?

Some people buy this stuff just to store it on their collection shelves....novelty items, etc...

So basically, there are two groups of people that this super hot stuff attracts and both probably don't give a darn about labeling in a sense that it is offensive....heck, I'd say for some, the more offensive, the more they want to buy it....but those are the novelty types that probably will never open the bottle.

That leaves the rest of us...those that will buy it to try it atleast once unless we fall in love with it and make it our favorite. Still though, how many sauces can one try in a lifetime? Who wants to try them all, anyway?

Super hot stuff is hardly found at the local grocer....I've seen them more in liquor stores than anything else and who drinks liquor? Again, us crazies.

So, the bottom line is, none of it is offensive to most of us because we see it what it is for...a marketing gimmick and nothing else.

Now then, if you do want to sell it at a chain grocer, then those offensive labels will come to play but you ain't gonna get no $7.99 and up for it which is why most Super Hot Sauce people sell their stuff online or on eBay.

Maybe that was a little more than 2 cents...I'll leave an IOU for the rest. ; )
 
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I see it as a reflection of your taste in the mouth. People who buy the sort of super hot sauce that will kill you if you have too much are interested in pushing the envelope of their food and taste buds. This is reflected in the pushing the bounds of what is generally accepted labelling. If we lived in a world where walking down the street you see flaming skulls and demons with blood dripping out their asses every day and it was a commonplace ho hum sight then it wouldn't make it onto the label of food that is considered extreme.

The majority of society can't handle super hot sauce, and so the labels are designed to reflect that. The reason this thread was begun is the purpose of those labels' designs.

If you really want to move a lot of units then you use the lowest common denominator design to appeal to the most people. Think the tabasco sauce label, simple and unoffensive.
 
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let's face it...it's all about marketing...whatever makes your eyes tell your hand to "pick that up" is what sells the most...and remember the target audience...there are essentially two types of chiliheads...the type that do it for the "macho-ness" and those that do it for the shear pleasure of growing and eating peppers without saying "Hey, look at me"....

I, for one, do not care for the names of some of the sauces...why would you want to even eat something where the name was based on some variation of death...doesn't dead stuff stink? IMO the first group is who those names will appeal to...

for me, just plain 7 Pot hot sauce or Trinidad Scorpion hot sauce is fine....
 
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Completely agree AJ.

It's not that I find the names offensive - just unappetizing.

spiders creep me out - I'm not thinking "yummy!" when I see a tarantula or black widow, so please no spiders on my food labels.

skulls and death and other goth imagery - I feel like I'm reading Heavy Metal Magazine back in high school. Again, not really what I think of as food.

And then the names that are extremely descriptive of a body part or function - like "Satan's Sh!t" or "Ass in the Tub" or "Bloody Sphincter" or anything else that's just trying too hard to be gross or sound scary - just not appetizing.

Not that the name HAS to imply yummy or be appetizing in and of itself - one of my favorites is Tiger Sauce. Great, classy label - distinct, iconic, bold. It's not that it's an appetizing label, it's just not unappetizing.

As I mentioned before and as AJ touched on - the bottom line is that your brand image is your marketing. And as a company you need to decide how wide you want your appeal to be. megamoo is spot on in that some folks are indeed marketing to that "extreme" 3-4% of the market who are looking for the next rush. I just question how successful one can be as a company with such a narrow appeal. I would never want to put out a product with a controversial or otherwise offensive label.

But that is entirely a personal preference.
:cheers:
 
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This is just my opinion...but there are always people going to be offended by SOMETHING. I think that as long as your graphics are creative, unique and well done, most won't be offended as long as it isn't COMPLETELY off color. Obviously, as THP said, you need to consider your target market but I think a well done label with a skull or representing a fiery hell won't offend most. They will recognize the symbolism..not suggesting that you support devil worship. ;)

Oh and I love the dragon label.
 
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I'm personally not "offended" by any of the labels I've seen but I do think that some of them (only a very few) are extreme for the sake of it and aren't really necessary. I'm put off by movies glorifying torture and suffering for entertainment (which seem to be far too common) and really I see labels working to shock or gross-out as an extension of that same mentallity.

I believe people who are turned on by that sort of stuff haven't endured real suffering in their lives and so see it as exotic and exciting. That's just my theory anyway. I certainly don't want my small kids seeing those sorts of images, and it will sway my decision whether or not to buy them.


I think it's fair to say that all the members of THP who are reading and commenting in "The Hot Pepper - Food Business Forums - Bottling, Packaging, and Marketing" subforum are more than just a regular hot sauce buyer. Our opinions on a hot sauce and its label will greatly differ from the average walk-in-to-a-shop customer. I personally wouldn't ever buy a hot sauce based on the picture alone because I know a bit about different ingredients, but would an average joe have a clue what oleoresin is or the difference between chilli heat. We can't really extend our opinions to represent the casual chilli sauce consumer and base a marketing decision on it. If you want your chilli sauce to reach the most mouths you should design the label that will appeal to the most people.... and I believe there is a large `shock and gross-out` market.


Ok I''ve finished ranting.


and I also think the dragon label is cool
 
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I think there's a difference between "offended" and "unappetizing". Same effect, different cause.

To me it's simple: hot sauce is a food product. It doesn't necessarily have to have an appetizing label (most do not, even very well known brands like Tobasco and Tapatio) but they should not have unappezing labels.

I think "offended" is far too broad and far too subjective and can lead to silly debates about what we each personally find offensive. My skin's pretty darn thick and growing up listening to Cheech & Chong, Red Foxx and Richard Pryor records, I'm extremely hard to offend. I find most Political Correctness movements to be BS overreactions that are used for manipulation, and people who are so easily offended that a label of a product will do the trick need to toughen up.

But that said, things that are unappetizing or not tasteful will have a very very hard time finding their way onto a grocer's shelf. Families shop at grocery stores, and no store owner is going to risk exposing a child to a graphic image, be it violent or sexual or in any other way disturbing in nature.

So it's not really about being offended - that's a misnomer. It's more about who you're marketing to and in what venues you wish to sell your product. If you're ok with online-only sales and don't intend on being in any store save for perhaps a "hot sauce exclusive" shop, then put whatever you like on the label. But if you wish to sell at farmer's markets, grocery stores or anywhere that's "family oriented" then you might want to think twice about that image of a hot naked chick drinking hot sauce out of a bloody flaming skull (which would be a sweet label actually. :rofl: )
 
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lol

This was a topic I had strong feelings about I guess.




A fair amount of my posts are short "welcome" messages & running contests/giveaways. But some subjects suck me in.

I still wanna see someone make that label with the naked chick drinking blood out of a skull.
:dance:
 
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