Sunday Soapbox–Too Many Choices

Granted it was a long time ago, but when I started out in retail there were 2 types of Crest, Regular and Mint.    There were maybe 20 brands total of shampoo (Prell, Head & Shoulders, etc.) and just one type of Listerine.    According to the P & G websites, there are currently 41 types of Crest toothpaste, 25 (!) different type of just Pantene Shampoo, and 17 different Listerine mouthwashes.   That doesn’t even count the different sizes, if you figure each SKU of Pantene comes in conditioner, shampoo and 2-in-1 with 2 sizes of each, that would make  150 separate SKU’s of just Pantene shampoo.   No wonder customers need so much help in our aisles.    Hey P & G, knock it off will ya?   That is all.