Globalisation is taking over the world (no pun intended) and under the mask of exciting technological advancements and reduced barriers between nations, the reality is that there is an increased corporate/working lifestyle and we all now live to work when it should really be the other way round. Convincing ourselves that we are truly blissful in our work lives and have the money to afford all we desire, we turn to increased consumerism to give us those temporary shots of ecstasy and further feed our beliefs that we have all we want and are oh so happy in this life. Our increasing consumption and decreasing satisfaction has led to higher expectations on companies to produce a larger variety of products that give us a higher dose of that ecstasy. This has led to companies releasing new products at a scary rate with new flavours, colours and purposes to offer.

One example of this is Magnum, UK’s best-selling ice cream brand with approximately 14.6 million people consuming ice cream from the brand in 2022. A few years ago, Magnum had limited but highly demanded ice cream flavours, as simple as chocolate and vanilla but tightly held in the hands of uncountable Britons. Now, one can walk down a Tesco aisle and see thousands of boxes with flavours ranging from Pink Lemonade to Blueberry Cookie, untouched, enviously glaring at their predecessor, the Magnum Classic, the main Magnum flavour that people pick up from the freezers. 

Despite companies releasing unthinkable varieties of products to feed growing demand, no one bats an eye and we all stick to the original. Although this is a strange, recently-rising phenomenon, one reason could be the human nature of boredom and dissatisfaction. Despite already having what we like and need, we demand new products to satisfy our boredom and feel that we are receiving complete value from the company. However, we always turn back to our original preferences while still demanding something revolutionary from sellers so we can keep hold of what we like but also have access to the latest products from brands. No wonder human beings are such complex creatures. We don’t know whether this is a temporary phase that the world is experiencing or if this is going to continue for a long time and executives in companies will be pulling their hair trying to think of new ideas, but in the meantime I sure do hope Magnum considers making a pina-colada mocktail inspired ice cream.