Odd Freezer Mates

Woodbury, Connecticut

Good Humor and Ben&Jerry's brands in the same freezer case? They're both huge brands, one pretty ancient, old when I was a kid, the other comparatively new, though it may be thirty years old at this point. Did somebody buy somebody out? To cover the middle and the top end of the ice cream market? I'm out of the loop in that I never eat ice cream or watch commercial television to see the ads, but I'm at least aware of these prominent brands. A free-standing refrigeration and display unit like this with in your face advertising graphics you have to lean across to get your dozen eggs is usually not owned (ie, paid for) by the grocery market, but rather is supplied by the brand distributor as a marketing device to get a prominent placement for their product. That seems to have worked well because this sits on the perimeter aisle (there's an adage that you will find healthier food on the perimeter than in the middle aisles of a market, and there's more than a little truth to that), in which case this marketing effort has succeeded by getting their vehicle onto the perimeter where fresh produce, meat, and dairy predominate. Of course a vegan would simply point to the slippery slope seen from right to left in the picture.

When traveling to make pictures for myself (not commercial assignment, a whole other problem) since I'm a long time vegetarian, I find it easier, not to mention cheaper, to avoid any sort of restaurant, keep a large cooler in my vehicle with a sufficient and renewed supply of ice, and shop at the limited part of the perimeter of the best market I can locate somewhere, to look for fresh produce, whole grain breads, and a judicious selection from the salads at the deli counter. If possible, I find my cheap room first. Cheap motels are far more likely to have a tiny fridge and a microwave in the room. Fancier places expect you to call room service, if you get my drift. If I know I've got a microwave available, that will influence what I buy at the grocery store to take back to the cheap room to make dinner.