We have a long, admittedly odd, history of learning from rodents here on Consumer Corner. Lessons from famous rodents delved into some of the reasons we associate so closely with animals, even the rodenty ones, from the time we were children … Stuart Little, Mickey and Minnie, and Timothy Mouse (from Dumbo). It isn’t only rodents, admittedly – there are also bears, dolphins, cats, and so, so, so many dogs.
Recall during our discussion of Why Revered Rodents Wear Gloves … “This relatability to animals, despite possibly never having met that animal face-to-face, begins very early in life. Many children possess at least one, or many more than one, stuffed animals of some kind. But very few children are found sleeping with their cherished stuffed soybean. Beloved classics such as Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little by E. B. White introduce children to animals as their friends and confidants. Animals in media are often presented as children’s friends and protectors. They are frequently defined as fiercely loyal, genuinely kind and with positive emotional appeal. One cannot forget the various dangerous situations which Lassie (the fictional dog character created by Eric Knight who stars in her own television series) and Flipper, the beloved television star bottlenose dolphin, traversed to help the children in their care.
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss is famous the world over. He has carried decades of children (and adults, perhaps) through adventures in books, and even on television. The book Winnie the Pooh has inspired much attention. He, along with his pals from the Hundred-Acre-Wood, have been friends to children since 1926. Pooh Bear, as his friends call him, is prominently featured in books, plush toys, clothing and on video. Perhaps the most undisputable evidence of Pooh Bear’s fame is that the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh were licensed to Walt Disney Productions. Pooh Bear and his friends remain the feature characters at The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, a testament to their fame and prominence in popular culture (and perceived economic potential).” Taken from Against the Odds: A Path Forward for Rural America
Okay, now that we’re back to the rodents … “Even Mickey Mouse has some unattractive characteristics. He’s beloved; he’s revered; he’s a childhood dream; he’s an economic goldmine, but he’s still a rodent with little rodent paws that we cover up with big white gloves.” From Mickey’s gloves we learn to question transparency and uncomfortable truths. Who are we really being transparent for? Is it to benefit our consumers and address their concerns? Or, if not, then why?
In an effort to learn from the famous rodents, we may have missed a more basic lesson from regular (less famous) mice. You may have read Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. If you haven’t read it, you should. And if you haven’t read it in a while, then you should probably do a refresher.
Briefly, I will summarize … there are two little people (Hem and Haw) and two mice (Sniff and Scurry) in a maze. Everyone wants to find cheese, which seemingly represents success more broadly defined than a stash of physical product. The cheese is the embodiment of success; whatever that means in your vision.
The bottom line is this … Hem and Haw (with all their human problems) spend their days looking for cheese through a rather complex set of viewpoints which involve achieving happiness and incorporating how one feels about finding cheese (even though it hasn’t happened yet). Sniff and Scurry (with none of the human problems) simply run up and down corridors in the maze looking for cheese with the simplistic “we want cheese; we are hungry” motivators. First lessons first — stop complicating matters with how you will feel once you find the cheese and what it means to you. Start looking for cheese; get going.
Then, second lesson, after one has found cheese you cannot assume you are set for life and entitled to forever cheese from the pile which you found. If you become too fixated on your hard-found cheese, you may not notice when the pile shrinks and the edges grow mold. Essentially, if you stop looking, stop paying attention, and become fixated on your pile of cheese, then you might not notice when it starts to stink. You have to smell your cheese often; finding success is not a one-and-done sort of thing. It’s constant. In the story, the mice keep their sneakers handy so they are ready to run. You need to keep your sneakers close … when the cheese gets old, you need to notice, and then set out to find new cheese.
Instead of fixating on having found cheese and parking oneself next to said pile, Sniff and Scurry (the mice) move on easily and run after new cheese. Hem and Haw (human problems, again) feel sad and sorrowful about their moldy, tiny cheese pile. The longer you stand next to your sadness inducing moldy cheese crumbles, the less time you have to find the new cheese. At some point the fear of leaving the old cheese becomes crippling. Eventually Haw goes out to find new cheese without his human friend Hem. But it took a lot to get him to go, and they aren’t together anymore. There’s new cheese out there, but you aren’t going to find it standing next to your old moldy cheese crumbles. Smell your cheese so you know when it is getting old. Then … Go. Find. New. Cheese. Preferably without too much Hemming and Hawing.
ConsumerCorner.2023.Letter.13
