Selling Advertising

Lovely Package seems to have taken over FFFFOUND! recently (which I suppose is better than the occasional smattering of stuff that looks like it's been pilfered from Deviant Art.) In looking at the non-descript, but well-designed packaging, I was reminded of a passage from DeLillo's White Noise, which I'm currently reading, in which the main character runs into Murray Siskind, a former sports writer turned professor of cultural studies, at the supermarket:

We ran into Murray Jay Siskind at the supermarket. His basket held generic food and drink, nonbrand items in plain white packages with simple labeling. There was a white can labeled CANNED PEACHES. There was a white package of bacon without a plastic window for viewing a representative slice. A jar of roasted nuts had a white wrapper bearing the words IRREGULAR PEANUTS. Murray kept nodding to Babette as I introduced them.

"This is the new austerity," he said. "Flavorless packaging. It appeals to me. I feel I'm not only saving money but contributing to some kind of spiritual consensus. It's like World War III. Everything is white. They'll take our bright colors away and use them in the war effort."