Short-run printed packaging; a supermarket odyssey – part 7

We didn't do a "Big Shop" this weekend as it was my mum's 65th birthday party, but there were a few little shops that proved useful in my "study" of short-run printed packaging on store shelves this summer.

 

Pride celebration cakes, as pictured below, mean anyone with a birthday party in the next six weeks can join in supporting Team GB. Or even better, host an Olympic party to mark the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics.

 

Even better still, why not have an Olympic-themed birthday party. My cousin is doing just that in early August, so will buy her a Pride celebration cake. No matter that she'll be 36.

Another brand hoping to capture the Olympic spirit is Lego, the Danish toy company.

 

A favorite of children around the world for decades, there's a stat circulating on the internet that a global population of six billion would mean each person owned 62 Lego bricks. The company is also the world’s No.1 tire manufacturer, producing nearly 400 million small rubber tires a year for its toy vehicles, more than double the production volumes of Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear.

 

OK, the tires are much smaller in size, but you get the idea. Lego is pretty big in the toy world.

 

The company also produces a range of accompanying “minifigures”, both generic and themed.

 

For the Olympics, a range of nine limited edition minifigures, each representing a different Olympic discipline, have been produced.

 

They are being sold individually, in Tesco at least, with each packaged in a flexible packet. Topps has been offering mini England football figures to coincide with the Euro 2012 tournament in a similar way, as pictured left next to the Lego Olympic figures, which will surely take precedence in the run-up to July 27, when the London 2012 Olympics start.

 

So excited by the Lego Olympic minifigures was I that I even sent a tweet to confectionery giant Cadbury suggesting they had overtaken the trio of special gold, silver and bronze Olympic-themed Dairy Milk wrappers as my favorite themed packaging example I’d yet seen.

 

Cadbury replied with the below picture, saying: 'We love them too.'

Check back for more soon, as we need food (the cupboards are bare) so the “Big Shop” should happen tonight and I’m expecting to see lots more Olympic products hitting the shelves from now on.

 

You can help me compile this unscientific “study”. Just snap a picture on your phone's camera and share it using your own Twitter account, mentioning @D_Pittman_PPW and using #packageprinting.

 

If you're not on Twitter, please email pictures to [email protected] so I can see what you see on the shelf this summer when it comes to themed short-run printed packaging.