week 12, post 2, saving food

These ads, like many, were photographed for their high amount of repetition in Uppsala. Sprouting up just around the holiday season, I had to wonder what exactly they were trying to convey. From my understanding, the advertisements are for a recipe book with creative ideas about what to do with leftover food in one's refrigerator. The timing of the ads is great for the people here because holiday celebrations are soon coming with the Swedish Julbord and its many dishes that involve a variety of ingredients. Leftovers can be an issue in an environmentally and resourceful community such as Sweden, so the product proves to be very useful for the people here. In America, I am sure a product like this would be very popular among middle class families around the holidays as well, but food is much cheaper therefore I feel it is wasted more. Overall in America, waste is not as conscious as it is in Sweden which trickles all the way down to whether or not a product such as this one would be successful. In the category of books, this is the first advertisement I have noticed and it is interesting because the author is not considered a celebrity or even pictured in the ads. In American ads, the author is always a big part of the presentation and often is just as important as the personality and the context of the book, such as Rachel Ray:

Rachel Ray's '30 Minute Meals' recipe books and TV shows are just as much about her personality as they are about their efficiency. Thus far, the focus in Swedish advertising has been much more about products as it has been about spokes persons. Overall when considering this product and what it does for the Swedish consumer, it differs with its ability to save energy and waste rather than save time and money. While both American products such as Rachel Ray's cookbook and this book about saving leftovers, both focus on 'saving' but each caters to what the consumers are most concerned about- in Sweden's case it is sustainability, and in America's case it is time.