52Shop Food Item Foolery

What do you call it when a web vendor tells you 'all the details' of a given product EXCEPT its weight, or some other fact, which is an essential fact in deciding to purchase or not? Conscious Omission Marketing? That seems to be the situation in the Food 52 Shop (and many other web shops i have seen, which omit an ingredients list and other facts.) It angers me, and takes 52 down several notches in my esteem. It affects the general pride i have in being associated with 52.
Example: https://food52.com/shop...

LeBec Fin
  • 1991 views
  • 16 Comments

16 Comments

SKK February 12, 2016
Please respond to Le Bec Fin's question directly and take this off line. Please do not hide behind the statement 'Food 52 is a small company'. That is not an excuse. Adding the line 'Happy Cooking' is quite patronizing.
 
Rebecca S. February 12, 2016
Hi there!
Thank you so much for writing in about this. As we grow, we so appreciate the feedback from our followers especially when we've listed something incorrectly on our site--as we have in this case. We're a small (but growing!) company and you'll find very few, minor inconsistencies throughout our shop product pages and sometimes (but not often) we're so excited about posting a product we overlook these details. Truly, unintentional. I've passed this along to my coworkers who manage copy on our shop site and we'll get these details listed on the product page. But please, if you ever find more of these missing items -- don't hesitate to bring them to our attention! And as always, if you ever have questions before purchasing a product I encourage you to reach out to the rest of our care team who is happy to answer any and all questions you may have before purchasing. We're always available at [email protected].

Thank you again! Happy Cooking!
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx February 12, 2016
What was wrong with the description that LE BEC FIN noted? Just the weight of the item? Perhaps a ticker-tape contact us at this # or just a customer service email or phone number with inquiries would absorb some of these concerns, so there not asked on the Hotline.
 
LeBec F. February 12, 2016
REBECCA, thx much for your reply. now that you are aware of the omission problem, and you are fixing this one product's info, will your team make sure to edit all the 52 food items to include weight/volume?
 
nancy E. February 11, 2016
What stuns me is that they are $1.00 per caramel. Wow
 
702551 February 11, 2016
Yes, that would be pretty darned cheap for San Francisco. In SF, each piece should be $2 or $3.
 
Susan W. February 11, 2016
I don't really understand. With flat rate shipping, why are you concerned. It does say you will receive 24 candies. Maybe I'm missing something, but yes, contact them and give them a chance to explain or fix.
 
LeBec F. February 12, 2016
susan? does it matter to you if celery root is $5.99 lb or $3.99 lb? or if the 52 lemon basil caramels cost $90 lb or $20 lb.? does the cost of a food influence your choice to purchase it? if yes, then you need to know the cost of the food when you decide whether or not to purchase it. but if the cost per lb is not listed, you have no way of making that decision. does that make sense now?
 
HalfPint February 11, 2016
If there's a problem (e.g. missing info), tell Food52 Shop. Give them the opportunity to correct it. They can't fix the problem if they don't know that it exists.
 
LeBec F. February 11, 2016
yes, but i would only be proven wrong if this were not a conscious marketing dept. guideline and they stopped practicing Conscious Omission Marketing for all their products.
 
702551 February 11, 2016
Well, if you're in a generous mood, it could be called "being human." If you are in a cranky mood, it could be called "being sloppy." For sure, both thoughts have crossed my mind in the past when I've encountered such shortcomings online.

One thing for sure: you will never ever find a perfectly operated online or bricks-and-mortar store.

It's entirely your choice whether or not to associate yourself with any given online operator.

Myself, I tend to sign up at places like this, then hang around for six months then head off to other pastures. There are plenty of other online food communities and of course, you can simply ignore online communities and just check out cookbooks from the library.

Again, totally your call.
 
LeBec F. February 12, 2016
very odd thinking. 'being human' makes it sound accidental; 'being sloppy' would indicate unintentional. But I am suggesting the opposite- 'manipulative' and 'deceptive', both coming fully from INTENTION to omit the facts most likely to deter a sale ( actual cost or 'Cost per Pound' being one of the biggest deterrents.)
 
702551 February 12, 2016
Personally, I find your thinking weird.

I don't know why Food52 would deliberate list a product in their online store facetiously. After all, they have chosen retail sales to subsidize their editorial output, not third-party ads nor subscription fees,

In the end, come to whatever conclusion you want. You're the one who seems to be particularly traumatized by what I consider to be typical Internet editorial slop.
 
702551 February 12, 2016
Personally, I find your thinking weird.

I don't know why Food52 would deliberate list a product in their online store facetiously. After all, they have chosen retail sales to subsidize their editorial output, not third-party ads nor subscription fees,

In the end, come to whatever conclusion you want. You're the one who seems to be particularly traumatized by what I consider to be typical Internet editorial slop.
 
702551 February 12, 2016
Personally, I find your thinking weird.

I don't know why Food52 would deliberate list a product in their online store facetiously. After all, they have chosen retail sales to subsidize their editorial output, not third-party ads nor subscription fees,

In the end, come to whatever conclusion you want. You're the one who seems to be particularly traumatized by what I consider to be typical Internet editorial slop.
 
702551 February 12, 2016
Wow, the Food52 server sucks tonight. Sorry about the duplicate posts.
 
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