Came across a food package yesterday and I was struck by this part of the box. The headline on this part says “Good Stuff Inside!” But look carefully at the list. It isn’t a list of the good ingredients. It is a list of stuff it doesn’t have. Even the vegan item is defined by what isn’t in it.
This silliness applies elsewhere. By saying what things aren’t, we expect people to be in favor of it. Indeed, this type of messaging is meant to find those people that think the same. It isn’t to convince others that there is good stuff here, it is to signal that this is not those other icky things.