We had Friday pizza day yesterday at the office, and a totally remarkable situation arose.

Stephanie, who was ordering the pizza and salads, asked,”Do you eat anything? Or do you have things you can’t eat?”

The rest of us – two dudes – said no, we were cool with anything she might order. Truly remarkable!

Now, I understand that lots of people have legitimate food allergies. That’s not what I’m addressing here.

I started to wonder if all the crazy food marketing of the past few decades has been teaching us to be overly-selective, finicky, obnoxious, high maintenance eaters.

Think about it. Never before have we been subjected to some much information and marketing on food packages. Heck, even vegetables are now packaged in plastic and cardboard that are oozing with subtle and not so subtle messages. Stickers are everywhere, too.

Check out your local Target when you get a chance. They’re getting into the food biz in a big way, and they’re selling produce that’s entirely pre-packaged.

Interesting stuff, ay?

What do you think? Are we training ourselves to be annoying?

My wife recently remarked that the malls are full. “How could we be in a recession?” she said.

It got me thinking. Personal spending is obviously way down, but people still want to have a mall experience. They want to window shop, buy some small things, taste candy, play with pets, jump through fountains, see cool fashions and maybe dream a little.

The thing that *really* gets me. . in a recession. . is this. People go by the hoards to a place where the finest marketing minds in the world (from the most talented ad agencies known to man) are working their magic. Everything from the display windows and signage, to the cashier talk and uniforms, to the music and temperature, to the promos and tagging… is designed by the best of the best.

This may not be true of every store in every mall. The malls I usually witness are Fashion Island in Newport Beach CA, and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. But it’s certainly relevant to most of the national chains and high-end designers.

The point is that these people are voluntarily exposing themselves to a situation designed to suck money out of their pockets.

They want to be pitched, sold, persuaded and wow’ed! They want that, deep down.

And what do we complain about in marketing? Let me count the ways: Traditional advertising is dying. There’s too much noise out there. People are shutting out our messages. People are fed up with consumer-driven behavior. The market is resisting our messaging.

Yet, the malls still bring em in.

I realize that malls are “opt-in.” Maybe that’s something to ponder, too. Is there a way you can make your business and partner businesses more like a mall?

Something to think about. Enjoy your weekend. And please comment below to add your observations.

I just ran across another advertising campaign that’s mimicking the Lance Armstrong “LiveStrong” campaign. It’s “Army Strong.” Just saw it on ESPN. Just like “Fan Strong” for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I’m sure there are others.

Am I just being crabby or is that weak? (Or is using the word crabby weak?). This tagline/marketing piggybacking reminds me of the “Got Milk?” campaign parroted endlessly for more than a decade. Got Sand? Got Surf? Got Weed? Got Faith? Got River? Got Soccer? Got Brains?… Barf.

Does anyone have an original thought? Or is there some science behind this cowardly mimicking?

Please comment if this annoys you as it does me.