Shiller has become somewhat notorious for eating gourmet cat food because he wanted to prove that, well, it's not gourmet — not even close.
GUO: You mention this anecdote about eating “fancy” cat food and finding out that it all tastes the same. This is example of how these stories that advertisers tell are not in our best interest — or in the best interest of our pets, in this case. The fancy labeling is an example of deception.
SHILLER: They have deniability. You can’t show they were fraudulent. If they name a cat food “beef stroganoff” flavored, and I taste it and say it doesn’t taste anything like beef stroganoff, and it tastes horrible, well there’s deniability. They can say, well your cat eats it right, so what’s the problem?
The problem is it’s all phony, the labels!
GUO: You have a cat?
SHILLER: Yes, well I had a cat and I tasted its food.
GUO: What kind of cat was it?
SHILLER: It was multi-colored, sort of a mutt-type cat.
GUO: A boy or a girl?
SHILLER: It was a girl.
GUO: What was its name?
SHILLER: Lightning.
GUO: So at some point in the course of writing this book you tasted —
SHILLER: Now it must be that most people don’t. Otherwise manufacturers wouldn’t use this advertising.
GUO: I just can’t imagine that you actually did it.
SHILLER: Well I didn’t eat the whole can!
GUO: Well how much did you eat?
SHILLER: Just enough to taste it. Why is there such an aversion to cat food?
AKERLOF: Doesn’t it smell really bad?
SHILLER: I’ve had food in restaurants that I liked less. (Turns to Akerlof) Like today, I didn’t like that salad… (Laughs)
AKERLOF: We won’t tell you where we ate!
GUO: You know they have treats now for humans and pets.
AKERLOF: Really!
SHILLER: How about Oreos? Dogs will eat Oreos.
GUO: I’m...not sure about that. But anyway — this is about the power of stories, right? But stories aren’t just ways to manipulate us. Stories are ways that we create happiness.
AKERLOF: Sure, yes!
SHILLER: We have a paternal or maternal instinct. We don’t always have children around, so that instinct is exploited by sellers of pets. A lot of people pride themselves on how they indulge their pets. They seem to respond to a story that this is just sick indulgence. You are just so good to your pet.
GUO: And you don’t think this creates value? Really, who is being harmed? You feel better about yourself, that’s utility. The extra 25 cents they charge, maybe they’re charging you because the food actually tastes like beef stroganoff — they’re charging you for the story.
AKERLOF: Again, the initial title of this book was Common Sense. If this gives people utility and it causes no harm, then that’s fine. But if it causes people to get cancer because they smoke too many cigarettes, or the kids are going to get diabetes, or financial markets crash, or if the political system isn’t working — we don’t want that.
But if Bob feeds the cat the fancy cat food, and he feels good about it, then okay let him. I’m not going to worry about that.
