Sometimes I see something while I’m walking through the store and it makes me stop in my tracks, do a double take, and wonder to myself, “Wait… what was that?!” A few days ago when I was walking through the local Walmart I had one of these moments, though I admit the reaction was delayed by a few seconds. Take a look at this picture and try to figure out what the problem is here:

Take a look at that picture - something ain't right about this "value..."

Did you pick up on the problem with this “value” that they’re promoting? No? Go ahead, take another look.

You may notice that buying one stick of Old Spice Fiji antiperspirant deodorant will cost you $3.97. If you wear Old Spice deodorants (and I do), then you know that this is the general going rate for the antiperspirant version of the product. But wait! Look! Right next to the $3.97 stick of Old Spice Fiji is a TWO PACK of Old Spice Fiji for just $7.97! Awesome! What a deal! What great value!

Wait a minute…

Let’s go back to basic, elementary school math for a moment. If one stick costs $3.97 and two sticks cost $7.97, which deal costs less per stick? Hmmm… well one stick costs $3.97 – we know that already. Now if two sticks costs $7.97 then we’d have to divide that amount by two, which would give us $3.98 (and a half cent) per stick. Well, that doesn’t make any sense does it? Aren’t we supposed to be getting a better “value” for the two sticks? This math seems like the consumer has to pay more by getting the special “value” offered at the friendly, neighborhood Walmart.

Can’t be right. Let’s try this another way.

So we know that one stick of the deodorant costs $3.97, but let’s say that I wanted to leave Walmart with two sticks of the product. Well, this one seems simple enough right? Just grab the special “value” and go about my business. Or… wait a moment here… if I can get one stick for $3.97, then what if I bought two of those one sticks? That would be $3.97 + $3.97 = $7.94 for the two sticks.

Do you hear that, Walmart and Old Spice? Your special “value” costs 3 cents more than simply picking up two of the same product! Come on, guys! Get with the program already! How could someone let this slip through the cracks?

And I know what some folks out there on the interwebs would be thinking after reading this; they’d think, “Calm down, Joe. It’s just a simple oversight that will probably get fixed in a matter of days.” Well, that’s true, but what bothers me in this situation is the marketing team at Old Spice. Simply put – these guys are pushing the Fiji flavor of their body wash, deodorant, and body spray more than I’ve ever seen them promote anything else. I mean, take a look at the front page of their website:

Trying to push a failing flavor much? Give it up already.

How many times can they slap that wretched Fiji stench on their website before it becomes ridiculous? It’s even worse in the stores. Every Christmas box set that I see from Old Spice in Wegmans or Walmart is jam packed with the Fiji flavor. Not the Komodo flavor or the Denali flavor or the Cyprus flavor; not even my personal favorite flavor – Matterhorn. Nope, all you get from Old Spice this holiday season is Fiji.

And I think I know why they’re promoting this flavor so much – it’s just not that good.

It’s not. When you smell the Fiji flavor something just smells wrong about it. There’s the wrong mixture of… I don’t even know. Sweetness and a biting stench are the only two adjectives that I can think of to describe the smell. It’s just not that good.

So here’s hoping that the folks at Walmart and/or Old Spice catch this mistake in their pricing model and fix it before they look even dumber than they look already. And here’s also hoping that Old Spice will stop trying to push a stench that the people have clearly rejected. If they were putting Matterhorn or Komodo (or any other flavor) out there in these box sets, they’d all be sold already. But no. Instead, we get Fiji.

Gross.