George Korda

special to the News Sentinel

I know why cell phones were invented.

They were invented so husbands can call their wives from the supermarket to ask “Tell me again what you want?”

It happens every day in Knoxville, in Tennessee, and the country. It’s not that confused men don’t know what they were sent for; rather, when searching for virtually any product they become overwhelmed, standing before a store-aisle wall of variations in ingredients; styles; capabilities; less-of-this; more-of-that; traditional; etc., etc., etc.

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Take mustard

Take mustard, please. On the surface mustard might seem to be a common yellowish condiment added to hot dogs and hamburgers. Dispatched to fetch “mustard,” the dispatchee stands before a dizzying assembly of choices: spicy brown; dijon and country dijon; stone ground; classic yellow; sweet and spicy; honey; whole grain; lemon tarragon; French roast; and more, in classic yellow or organic options from an arms-length list of manufacturers.

The eyes search the shelves. The odds of making the wrong choice are high. The phone is dialed, followed by, “Tell me again what you want?”

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And that’s just the mustard.

Each of those mustard bottles is competing to catch someone’s eye to eventually slide down their throat. Stores are in constant evolution for exactly the same purpose: draw customers and make money. The essence of capitalism.

Essence of capitalism

In west Knoxville, Kroger more than 20 years ago built a store not far from where we live. It was a well-done U.S. supermarket. In 2012, Publix opened its first Knoxville store, about a strong rock-throw from Kroger.

Prior to Publix’s opening, Kroger went to work, significantly expanding and upgrading its store. When Publix opened, I noted something else: different customer service. The staff of both stores, when asked where an item was located, instead of saying, “It’s on aisle 12,” walked you to that spot at aisle 12.

Stand at the front of either store with a puzzled expression as you search the aisle markers for your product objective, employees come flying at you like a football defensive front four racing to be first to the quarterback. Whoever wins will walk you to that spot at aisle 12.

Tsunami of product variations

On every aisle there seems a tsunami of product variations. In the mayonnaise section there’s regular; olive oil; zero percent fat; non-genetically modified organism; classic; light; avocado oil…to name a few.

Something as simple as chicken broth? There’s roasted; organic; low sodium; free-range; organic free-range; organic free-range low sodium; 33 percent less sodium; no preservatives and regular chicken broth.

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Behind each of these products – and every other one on every other shelf – is an army of farmers; processors; production workers; marketing teams; sales people; distributors; delivery teams; and others on a great chain who make their livings through the sales of the products.

Behind the Berlin Wall

I once had the opportunity to spend a day in East Berlin when it was under communist rule. There was something notable about the store windows into which I looked: there was pretty much nothing there. The cars on the street? The Trabant, a 600cc two-stroke sewing machine for which one had to wait years for delivery.

With the fall of communism, capitalism has been embraced, as a resident of center of the former communist world explained when asked if life was better today than under the power of Marxist-Leninist socialism: “I have an apartment I bought. I have a car. I have my own business. What do you think?”

What would Bono say

Bono, the lead singer of the rock group U2, may be just a singer in a rock & roll band, but he’s active as well in trying to help poverty-stricken people around the world. He may have summed up capitalism’s benefits about as well, and succinctly, as it can be explained: “Aid is just a stop-gap. Commerce—entrepreneurial capitalism—takes more people out of poverty than aid,” Bono told an audience in remarks made at Georgetown University.

Perhaps Bono has found himself at one time or another in a store looking up and down the shelves, perhaps even on aisle 12. No doubt he reached into his pocket and a moment later was heard to say, “Tell me again what you wanted?”

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George Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV, appearing Sundays on “Tennessee This Week.” He hosts “State Your Case” from noon – 2 p.m. Sundays on WOKI-FM Newstalk 98.7. Korda is a frequent speaker and writer on political and news media subjects. He is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.