Dr. Clotaire Rapaille is an internationally renowned marketing researcher. If you've ever heard people reference "archetypes," you can thank Dr. Rapaille. I worked on a project with him years ago and his core premise still holds true today - people make unconscious associations, have unconscious memories that make us sometimes unexplicably loyal to and passionate about brands and products.
My experience is that most of the time, people have no idea why they're doing what they're doing. They have no idea. So they're going to try to make up something that makes sense.
So what's with our infactuation with cup holders in cars?
Apparently it all started back in the 1920s when the Sears catalogue offer this jerry-rigged cup holder for the Ford Model T.
Then innovation took a turn in 1957 when Cadillac introduced the spiffy pull-out bar for the Eldorado.
But the true boom in cup holders came in 1983 when Chyrsler/Dodge introduced the minivan and it included two BUILT-IN cup holders.
For the rest of the world, we were still toiling away with these window-hanging gadgets were sold in convenience stores for $1.99.
Which get me back to the original question, what's with our infactuation with cup holders?
According to Rapaille:
Cup holders signify coffee, and coffee signifies safety, and safety is what women want most in cars.
The coffee archetype: You’re home, you’re safe, mother is preparing breakfast.
Uh, ok. So if that's the case, then riddle me this, Batman...
Why was I so blown away by the cup holder that cools your beverage in my buddy's new SUV?