Toni & Guy packaging fail

If you’re anything like me, doing your hair is always a last-minute job, done in a massive rush, desperately trying to get out of the door. That was the scene on the weekend. Not only that, I was also looking forward to using my new Toni & Guy heat protection spray. So with my straightening irons steaming hot and ready to roll, I picked up my new spray and tried to do exactly that. Except nothing happened. I tried again. Nothing. Now, when I bought the product in Boots I did notice that the whole range had been quite significantly repackaged, at least since the last time I had bought anything. The old tin aerosol had been replaced by a plastic bottle with a trigger spray.

While I’d clocked this change, it never occurred to me that it would be an issue. How wrong I was. Struggling to get the damn bottle to spray, I consulted the instructions: “spray evenly over damp hair and comb through …or spritz over dry hair.” “Well, I never”, I think “I could have worked that bit out for myself”. The much more significant, “how the hell do I get the damn bottle to spray” issue was simply not addressed. I tried calling the 0800 help line. Of course it was closed. I tried do dismantle the device to see whether I needed to snap off some sort of plastic lock thingie. Needless to say, I got myself into a right mess. After 20 minutes of this faffing around I was about to give up when suddenly, completely by accident, I alighted on a bit of transparent plastic on the rim just below the nozzle. Hey presto, I clicked it and discovered a locking device. Finally I was able to spray, even if I might have given up the will to live as I tried to get there.

Don’t get me wrong. Once you understand how it works, it’s a brilliant mechanism. But an appeal to the designer, please. This is a new mechanism. Can you think of the poor consumer and give us just a teeny, weeny hint as to how your marvellous new system works? Even if there isn’t space on the product itself, what about a little arrowhead on the lock to give us some sort of a clue? After all, we are talking about a small piece of semi-transparent plastic. And try to remember too, that when we’re styling our hair, time is of the essence and we don’t want to be confronted with an Ikea-build of a task simply to access some product. But above all else, put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. PS – and please don’t blame it on my age. Our lovely assistant account executive, 21 year old Sophie has exactly the same problem the first time she used this product too.