PASSIONATE RATIONS

The October 8 Time Magazine had a one-page article on a guy named Wasink.

He’s a kind of mad scientist who conducts experiments to find out how we decide what, and how much, to eat.  He bets that you, like even the most experienced bartenders, will–if left to your own estimation sans measuring cup–put significantly more alcohol in a short wide glass than a tall, skinny one, try as you might to get it even.

The article’s author “overshot” by 50%!

The results of Wasink’s studies reveal that we are not particularly bright creatures.  Apparently, the guy gave buckets of stale popcorn to people walking into a movie theater and those who got bigger tubs of it still ate 35% more.

And the whole M&M adding blue-colored buttons to the mix?  Yeah, well, I bet they’re just trying to capitalize on Wasink’s finding that variety–even when it consists solely of color variety–makes us eat more.

Can you say “obesity”?

The lesson:  while we probably can’t escape the insidious evils of subtle marketing, we can fight back and always order our drinks in short, wide glasses.