Advertisers know that in marketing any product the right packaging is crucial. No matter what you are trying to sell soap or semi-conductors the image projected by the packaging is the first experience of the product for the potential consumer. So it had better be a great experience.

One of the trendiest marketing ploys is intentionally dressing down the product. Lining my shower is a whole row of shampoos and bath gels that are encased in what look like the glassware from a nineteenth-century chemist's shop (Molton Brown, Penhaligon, etc.). Primitive labels, ground glass stoppers, square-shouldered bottles, all house a twenty-first century selection of soaps and shampoos, colognes and conditioners. By looking so old, these products have made themselves look brand new.

One of the most su…