No offense, but I don’t like your brand.

I’ll be the first to admit it here- I love reality television. It wasn’t until the last season that I really got into The Bachelor though, but man did it get me hooked from the first episode. I’ve known of girls utterly obsessed with the show and I have tried avoiding it, but with unemployment and my parents DVR why not give it a try, right?

I was hooked, rooting for my girl Renee when it came down to the final four. But I had missed the next episode and was forced to wait until it was accessible on Hulu to watch it. This was when I saw a tweet revealing everything.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Not only are you ruining the next three episodes for me, and my first Bachelor watching experience, but you honestly think you AREN’T spoiling it?!

Thinking more about this, how contradicting have we as people become? How in the hell does saying “not to post a spoiler” make what you revealed any less of a spoiler? This has happened countless times through television shows, books, sporting events, etc. and people consistently think that because they make it a point to say they “aren’t spoiling” anything that they really aren’t.

The same goes for those people who complain, but throw out “not to complain…” Do you really thing this is justifying your statement as less of a complaint? You have to be absolutely kidding me. “Not to complain but, I can’t handle this weather.” Guess what, you are complaining, which is okay! You don’t have to try and justify yourself or apologize for speaking what’s on your mind. Stop trying to hide your complaint by denying it of what it truly is!

This led me to think how not only do people contradict what they say and do, but businesses and brands contradict themselves as well. For instance, the food industry is notorious for contradicting themselves. Fast food joints are attempting to make a healthy alternative to keep customers coming during this health phase we’re currently in. But let’s be honest, how healthy can these salads be when they’re coming from a restaurant built off of grease?
Colleges are also often faced with contradictory situations and the ever changing ways to new generations of college students. My alma mater, Iowa State University, made public recognition my freshman year to attempt making the campus less of a party scene, but since then hasn’t done much to try and change the ways of students.

In fact, I saw more and more students out and about Friday nights throughout my last two years there.

These contradictions for brands can put such a negative energy on the business and can possibly decrease followers and sales. We as people need to realize that being contradictory isn’t helping anyone.

-So not to be a complainer, but we all need to stop being so contradictory.