One of the most memorable early projects I worked on was for a new banana nut flavor SKU for an existing brand. We had three distinct designs we were evaluating: one with a soft yellow color and subtle banana image, one with a bright yellow, and one with a brownish banana nut bread vibe. What we learned was that the subtle design elements of the first design non-consciously cued a subtle banana flavor, which drove appealing and accurate taste expectations. That was the design they moved forward with, and it was a hugely successful launch.
The lesson stuck with me: design does heavy lifting that most people never even notice. It non-consciously cues associations about a brand, a product, and a flavor before a shopper has read a single word on the pack.
Which brings me to something I have been noticing more of lately: on-pack imagery that feels artificial or off-putting, whether or not it actually is. And it raises a real question. What does imagery that feels fake suggest about the product inside?
Proper Good is a good example. A soup brand with a name that cues good, wholesome, and nourishing. But the on-pack imagery tells a very different story. When I posted about it on LinkedIn, the comments ranged from people critiquing the concept of “pizza soup” to something that highlighted the other issue: “That pizza looks like it came from a lab, not a kitchen. No wonder it’s marked down.”
That comment gets at something important. Humans have a knack for sensing authenticity, and in food, that radar is sharper than ever. Consumers are evaluating every signal a brand sends, from the name to the imagery to the product itself. They want to feel good about what they are putting in their cart at the shelf, and then feel good about what they put in their body at home. Imagery that feels unreal or artificial can quietly undercut that feeling before a shopper even picks up the product. It does not matter if it actually is AI generated or just looks that way. The perception is the problem.
That does not mean unconventional or stylized imagery is always wrong. It can be a totally acceptable fit for certain brands and categories. But it always comes back to the same question: what message do you want to send about your brand and what is inside? Because shoppers are paying attention, even when they do not realize it.
Artificial cues artificial.