Hidden War is a Thrash metal band from California, USA 🇺🇸 made up of ex-mem… Read Full Bio ↴Hidden War is a Thrash metal band from California, USA 🇺🇸 made up of ex-members of Los Angeles punk/thrash bands C.O.A., COLD and Canadian death metal band Dethdrawn. The band's new material crosses into many genres of thrash, metal and punk.
They have released 4 full length albums, ‘Struggle’ and ‘Psychotic Eyes’ both in 2019, ‘The Watcher’ and ‘Demon Breed’ both in 2020.

Current Members: Mark (guitars/vocals), Roby (drums), Ken (bass)

Problems
hidden war Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Here I stand looking through dark days
An opening revealed, from a crack above
All these streets filled with doors and faces
I need to move, driven to die

All my... soul knows...

Up and arise to where we're at

This endless long race, meant for a rat
Taking that chance, to try to belong
I can't help but think, how it's all wrong

Onward... so it goes ...

All I've known, I'm ready to go
Oh, my soul's ready to go
So, I've known, I'm ready to go
All my souls ready to go

Take this job but look beyond
Feed my face I might be wrong
Purpose is a man's resolve
In this fight is to belong

All my foes the final blow
All the roles I've come to know
Always known so now I go
I now must know, or I'll be here again... and again... and again...

Here I stand looking through dark days
An insight revealed through a crack so high
All these streets filled with bullshit
I need to move, driven to die

All my... soul knows...

Here we go rising to where we're at
The endless long race meant for a rat
Taking that chance to try to belong
I can't help but think how it's all wrong

All I've known, I'm ready to go

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to the song "Problems" by Hidden War depict a sense of disillusionment with life and the struggle to find purpose and belonging. The opening lines describe the feeling of being stuck in difficult times, but finding a glimmer of hope in a small opening or opportunity. The singer then expresses a desire to move forward, even if it means taking risks or potentially dying in the process.

The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "All my soul knows," which could suggest a deep internal understanding or intuition about what needs to be done. At the same time, the verses highlight the struggle between following societal norms and expectations versus pursuing personal fulfillment and passion. The lyrics suggest a need to look beyond superficial pursuits and instead focus on finding one's true purpose.

Line by Line Meaning

Here I stand looking through dark days
The singer is in a difficult situation.

An opening revealed, from a crack above
The singer sees a possible solution to their problems.

All these streets filled with doors and faces
The singer is surrounded by people who may or may not be helpful.

I need to move, driven to die
The artist feels like they must take drastic action to change their situation.

All my... soul knows...
The artist's intuition is telling them what to do.

Up and arise to where we're at
The singer is ready to take action to improve their situation.

This endless long race, meant for a rat
The singer feels like they are stuck in a never-ending cycle.

Taking that chance, to try to belong
The artist is willing to take risks to find their place in the world.

I can't help but think, how it's all wrong
The artist is questioning whether their actions will lead to true happiness.

Onward... so it goes...
The artist is resigned to the fact that they must keep moving forward.

All I've known, I'm ready to go
The singer is willing to let go of the past and move on.

Oh, my soul's ready to go
The artist is emotionally prepared for change.

Take this job but look beyond
The singer is willing to accept a job but has bigger goals in mind.

Feed my face I might be wrong
The singer acknowledges that they may make mistakes along the way.

Purpose is a man's resolve
The singer believes that having a clear purpose is key to succeeding.

In this fight is to belong
The artist's goal is to find their place in the world.

All my foes the final blow
The artist is ready to overcome any obstacles in their way.

All the roles I've come to know
The singer has played many different roles in their life.

Always known so now I go
The singer has always known what they need to do and is ready to do it.

I now must know, or I'll be here again... and again... and again...
The artist is determined to learn from their mistakes and not repeat them.

Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Mark Rafferty

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Dano

7y↑6

B Randall My father once worked as quality control at a major vegetable cannery. One of the really interesting things he told me was that if they found a new production method and were able to cut costs, they wouldn't be able to sell them at the lower cost.

People typically associate the price of a good with it's value, and when your can of peas is priced at $0.60 and your competitor's is at $0.75, since yours is the "cheaper" product it appears to the customer that it's both cheaper in cost and quality.

This is the same reason the Linux OS has never charged for it's product... It knows any price below that of it's competitors (Windows and Apple) would be interpreted as lower value.

That said, there is a certain percentage of consumers who buy the lowest cost, regardless... Creating a separate product line under a generic label is a great way to tap into that consumer group as well.

I'm not sure how much is due to quality really. I'm fairly certain that frequently plays a role, but the cynic in me suspects that some of it is because due to scales of economy, the higher the volume of production, the lower the cost per product, that some high-quality labels do this because they can't sell high-volume at a high price point, but they need to run a high-volume to maintain efficient, cost-effective production. At that point, they're left with overproduction, and need to offset what they can't sell at a high-price with another product sold at a lower price.

All comments from YouTube:

Sierra LVX

7y↑2.1K

I worked as an overnight shelver at superstore in Canada for a bit, and being the person that physically puts the products into the slots they pay for is nerve-wracking. In fact, food companies would send representatives to the store to check if we had put their product exactly where they wanted it. And next time you're looking at the price for oreos, look at the price tag on the shelf a little closer. There will be a 'f1' code, meaning 'face this number of objects', which is how many products are meant to be facing the front of the shelf. Sometimes there are f7' or f10' rows, and it made me go 'fuck that!" every time, having to squeeze every product as close as I could without it falling off. My old co-worker described it as mini real estate, and that is so accurate.

oily london

2y↑1

ooo

J. M

4y↑2

If you think stocking shelves is nerve wracking work then buckle up lol

Ernesto

4y↑2

Sierra LVX there were 969 likes so I won’t like

AngelaLavie

4y↑1

Same I worked at Kroger and people would come in to take pictures of items. I thought they were apart of Kroger but I know realized they were sales reps

INOCRY

5y↑7

i know what exactly what you mean, my family owns convenience stores and when we get big brand products the supplier comes in to check if it is displayed properly and with advertisement that is meant to be displayed.

3 More Replies...

Bro, Wtf

7y↑745

i love this channel cause honestly they report things i didn't even know existed

thedeadquaker

5y↑34

nothere_2017 Not everyone goes to marketing school, dear.

C4nadian

7y↑2.7K

These are the vox videos that made me sub in the first place.

Wings of Freedom

3y↑1

Reagan signed the machine gun ban and I'm still mad at him for it.

Nico Swan

5y↑2

I just do the same, lol

Kai Official

7y↑2

C4nadian What you don't like endless Trump videos?

Miss Jayye

7y↑2

C4nadian mhmm

Maj_Cyric

7y↑3

+C4nadian funny you should say that... Because i just subbed after watching this one....

4 More Replies...

Ionlymadethistoleavecoments

7y↑1.4K

So VOX just made me weigh the ethical concerns of buying ice cream.

Josh Carrillo

there is no thing as ethical consumption under capitalism… or so i’ve heard

Smoothbrain detainer

@xyz123 Online is even worse. Even if not directly labelled "advertisement", companies will pay for higher search results, reviews, and recommendations. It's not just food, almost EVERY retail industry does this.

xyz123

buy online, although even online some brands pay to be put at the top of the list

SiCong Li

5y↑3

as if we don't feel guilty enough when buying ice cream...

Forest Green

They don't make you do anything ✌🏼✌🏼

3 More Replies...

Nathanael Crawford

7y↑249

While Walmart doesn't charge slotting fees (anymore), they do use their clout to force other large corporations to bend to their will.
A notable instance where they attempted this was with Little Debbie a few years back. McKee Foods (Little Debbie's parent company) uses a (somewhat antiquated) DSD system of independent delivery drivers, each one operating their own small business.
Some time ago, Walmart began a push to bring as many companies into their direct-ship model (McKee sells to Walmart, who then takes over the distribution to their stores, cutting out the middle man).
McKee flatly refused- as doing this would destroy thousands of their distributors primary income. Walmart retaliated by demoting Little Debbie to the bottom shelves, and bringing in more competition- trying to force their hands by strangling their income.
They failed to force McKee's hand in this particular case, but the income for many distributors I know personally took an enormous hit- sometimes up to a third of their income- due to these (and similar) practices.

Shredow2

7y↑13

A DSD is different from a trucking company carrying the product to the store. A DSD(Aka a vendor) owns the product and sells them to their group of stores(aka a "route). Its akin to a franchise owner of a restaurant.
DSDs also stock the product themselves and work with the stores to coordinate displays.

H

7y↑3

Walmarts don't do this for all their products, I've worked for a logistics company that contracts small trucking companies to bring shipments of Colgate products to Walmart locations in the last year

circle shafer

Nathanael Crawford contextual

Cody'sLab

7y↑1.5K

"made by Walter White foods" lol

Sciencesid

with generic crystal bits

Musical Neptunian

6y↑1

Bonus free powder pack for more flavour!

username.anon();

6y↑3

Where?

enabler905

6y↑1

Cody'sLab p

9 More Replies...

Stannis The Mannis Baratheon

7y↑5.2K

I keep thinking the video is over but it keeps going

Josh Santiago

3y↑1

It's the music

Deniz Savkay

same

Stannis The Mannis Baratheon

4y↑2

13 years on youtube and this is the most clout I've gotten

TJ Miller

same lol

Ace_Monkey_Ilium

Yes

11 More Replies...

RancidMarshmallow

7y↑1.5K

"with generic bits"
yup, that's my new motto.

They call me PEPSAYYY

6y↑2

You can also sEe iT wIth yOuR eYEs

Yumisall Allisyum

6y↑2

you can eat it with your mouth

Nugcon

Jonas L

7y↑1

Gretchen Trouble A

Kidd Lorenz

7y↑57

"Slutting fees"

1 More Replies...

Cee Gee

7y↑12

Wow, I had it so backwards. I thought the grocery stores bought food from vendors at a whole-sale price and then sold to consumers for a profit. I had no idea the grocery stores taxed the vendors to even hold their products. Crazy!

sundog aurora

2y↑1

I'm sure some smaller stores don't charge manufacturers

groden

7y↑1.4K

This is why I subscribed to Vox

Record ace

6y↑1

PinguThePenguin

political views are inherently subjective. the fact that large manufacturers compete with one another for space and force smaller manufacturers out in the process is objective. major difference.

mtl shdr

or maybe they don't wanna be bothered by politics/don't care about US politics and came for the funfact tidbits knowledge videos

Leo OD

7y↑1

I think any self respecting media outlet has no choice but to swerve supporting the angry orange gibbon if they don't want to go bust

San Lee

7y↑5

whoah easy now depressed guy.

ndgo

7y↑2

xancan kerimov this is what vox is for not the CNN look alike that they've been since jan1,2016

11 More Replies...

Tim Zarra

7y↑500

no wonder all the ice cream at the grocery store sucks. It's not a competition for the best ice cream, but a competition to see who can afford the shelving space.

sergeantbigmac

5y↑5

Most ice cream these days is so syrupy, sticky and sickly sweet. Thats not how ice cream is supposed to taste or texture be. I would gladly pay more for ice cream that is really ice cream; literally just whole cream and cane sugar. Why we have to pay more for less in America boggles my mind

Daisy

5y↑1

@Emily Paris It is but 5.49$ for one pint is outrageous.

DEW

5y↑1

Capitalism...gotta love it!
Or not 😞

PepperPotato

But creamy creations in heb is like heaven

awr__00

James Currie Lmfao...It was a joke

4 More Replies...

Lucy

7y↑601

I wish at the end they would do a quick run down on what it's like in different countries.

CommanderCodey

It’s probably the same for a lot of countries.

Carl Zune

5y↑2

I'm afraid to say, thats it's almost the same... at the end is just money A BUNCH OF IT, and if a store is getting a lot from it, it will continue...

525Lines

7y↑79

Food delivery is discouraged and the long-gone milkman used to deliver all kinds of other food. They want you in the store because you'll probably buy impulse items. The store is organized in a way to get you walking through as much of the store as possible.

JMONEY-4K

7y↑2

525Lines I notice how milk is always in the back right or left corner of every store . since milk is something that many people all they really need to get , it makes them travel and notice the other foods and snacks that you can get . hmmm pretty smart

zeke1220

Cutting out stuff containing wheat, dairy, or sugar will do you a lot more good than cutting out MSG.

I am Bennu! So are You!

525Lines
I'm pro-ALDI too. I don't have to be concerned with coupons or sales or a baffling array of selection, and I save so much money and time. When my friend from France came over to the U.S., she couldn't understand why everything was always 'on sale'. The prices always change. I do have a friend in Boston who is a bike courier and a lot of his deliveries are food, either prepared or groceries. And as a UPS gal, no, we don't care for the 50 lb parcels too much.

525Lines

Just a bug in your ear, buddy. When I was young, I ate whatever and was fine. This is stuff that sneaks up on you.

NoahDVS

525Lines
I don't eat tons of it in the first place. Most problems from consuming various substances happen because people have too much. A little aspartame here and there won't hurt because it's too insignificant. If you're drinking diet soda every day (a bad idea even without the aspartame), you'll probably have problems at some point as a result.

You're right that it's best to take the fact that something is FDA approved with a grain of salt, but it's also best to take the same serving of salt with ideas that say a substance is generally bad because it was bad for a minority of people. Usually, the answer to a question is somewhere between 2 extremes, not at the extremes.

I personally can't recall having any problems with MSG, so I don't think I'd benefit from actively avoiding it. It's good that companies are willing to make food for people that don't want to eat it though.

11 More Replies...

Dano

7y↑58

There's some really interesting things I've noticed with Generics... they frequently have very high-quality ingredients.

I have health issues which require I avoid certain ingredients, such as food dyes... I've found that I can more frequently find foods with all natural coloring, flavoring, etc, in generic foods than in brand-name foods.... To a point... Some high-cost brand name foods also share these all-natural ingredients.

I suspect that since generic foods are labeled under the store brand, but not made by the store's company, that many (not all of course) generics are made by high-quality brand name compnaies. Any over-production, or anything that doesn't meet a certain criteria of a high-standard, gets relabled as a generic to keep the standard of the name-brand high, and recoup some of the cost that was invested in a product which didn't meet those high standards.

The other interesting one is sodas... You'll almost never find two main soda brands at the same restaurant. Some of this is due to distributor fees, and cutting costs by only having one distributor, but I wouldn't doubt there were some kind of non-compete agreements when signing on with one company to not sell another's.

TravelerInTime

7y↑1

Btw that's not why Linux distros are free of cost (also there is no single one "Linux OS", there are multiple distributions based on the same kernel that have different things on top like package manager, GUI, etc.). The GNU General Public License (the software license under which Linux is distributed) states that anyone is free to view, modify or distribute the source code (as long as the distribution is done under the same license so that this freedom is maintained). So if everybody can view, modify it or redistribute it, then there's no point in charging anything for it because anybody can give it away for free. Also, if they charged anything for it, it would take away some of the freedom associated with it. Linux couldn't care less about comparing or competing with Windows or Mac, or about its interpreted value. Anyone who wants to use it can just use it. Anyone who doesn't want to, just doesn't use it. There's no gain or loss anyway.

Dano

7y↑6

B T

7y↑5

I believe the purpose of having only 1 major soda brand at restaurants in most cases is due to more of a marketing approach than straight up cost cutting. Sort of like ad space, the brand of that soda line may actually pay the food service location to distribute only their product in the hopes that they gain customers by branding (you'll notice the major soda brand being supplied at the location always has its logo in a lot of other spots like the glasses, signs, clocks, etc.) and also by sheer sales of only their product in the location. Hard to lose money on an a marketing investment when your product is the only one being sold.

Also you are correct mostly about the generic brands. Most store brands are typically made by another manufacturer, usually of a major brand name (of course usually dairy products are not, but that does vary store to store. I can say that a company I worked for does have most of its generic product produced by major brand labels.) Now I've never been involved in the actual manufacturing of generic products, but I have been to a manufacturing location and spoken with some people who have worked in canneries and the like that do produce generic foods and you are right in the fact that some are exactly the same product from what it seems. Some may have extra stuff added during the manufacturing process so I'm unsure. That I don't know.

One trend I have been noticing is major brands (like UTZ for example is quite openly doing) seem to be producing high standard products under a generic name, but also with their branding somewhere on the package, like "Made for "Store Name" by UTZ". I'm assuming these products, since they are cheaper, are lower in production cost so in turn lower quality to a degree, but still higher quality than the base store brand products that they most likely still produce.

Comment Post

7y↑3

Have you any examples to compare? (just interested)

Audrey Trammell

7y↑2

They really do so great on editing their videos, that and providing as much proof as they can fit.

S_for_Short

7y↑725

Wait...so when i pick something from a shelf and 10 mins later i decide i dont want it so i leave it at a random shelf am i commiting a crime?

Alex George

Bro I always run back to the place I took it from and keep it there, why hastle the people who already worked so hard putting them there

Oliver Williams

I do that all the time. so does my mom. let them call the shelf police I don't care.

Aus Bare

4y↑1

Yes you are especially if it is a perishable item, the store can not sell it and must throw it away making the price go up. Leaving stuff on a random shelf is lazy and selfish but I know you will keep doing that.

Frial S

4y↑2

@Joshua79C C please make your own spaghetti and meatballs, it's healthier, cheaper and you get wayyy more for the same amount of money

Leonard Ana Phan

Yes you are

10 More Replies...

Shavone Granville

7y↑578

the face on the model of generic ice cream is glorious.

Zander Norris

3y↑1

i love this channel cause honestly they report things i didn't even know existed

dantedero

7y↑4

Great video! Always nice to see quality videos, thanks Vox.

AJ Rosello

7y↑3

Great informational video!!!! I love Vox they take things that would generally be considered boring and turn into the most interesting things on Youtube! Thank you Vox.

solzy

7y↑1

This becomes even more problematic with retailers introducing their own value brands. They charge lower prices and they can place them wherever they want to avoid fees. Also, in Canada with so few retailers, stores like Wal-Mart and Loblaws do charge listing fees for putting the product on the shelf and also charge you again to remove it.

Ryan.Person

7y↑2

Funniest bit about this is that for years companies paid to have their products at eye level, only to find out decades later that the ''grab level' is just above elbow height

Clide Gearden

7y↑2.8K

wow vox, you didnt state that you were sponsored by generic, im disappointed

Cardo Dalitay

@mukhtar yusuf r/ woooosh

Z-Kun

6y↑5

@mukhtar yusuf r/woosh

They call me PEPSAYYY

6y↑40

“Only truly amazing people can see the quality of generic brand. It is so generic that it’s not generic”
- some basic white name

hecko

7y↑154

mukhtar yusuf It's a joke about how some YouTubers get sponsored by companies in exchange for showing their products. Here, Vox has shown a product by the fictional Generic brand.

mukhtar yusuf

7y↑3

Clide Gearden what are you talking about

gmfinc18

7y↑1

I've never heard of this problem in Europe, I even know people that have got their product into grocery stores, they just ask the company and if it's a semi-decent product they'll usually trial it in a few stores to see if it sells. There must be a law against charging or something.

Salmon Fish

7y↑4

You just made me question my innocent trips of me accompanying my mom to the grocery store.... something as innocent as that could even change. Wow Vox. Truly amazing even for something as simple as that.

Zoki4444

5y↑7

Sometimes I "accidentally" put a bottom shelf item on an eye-level shelf.

Come and sue me, Nestle.

Zhi Han Lee

I recall a past news article about similar fees in my country, which turn out to be high enough for some domestic brands to not want to sell their products domestically.

Nerdy Snailie

I honestly don't look at the slotting fees but my experiences and preferences in food and drinks. I am not sure if any other buyers do as I do, but for me, even if the item is stuck bottom low or top up and highly visible if I love it, I will buy it!

Abhishek Ghosh

7y↑1

Would really love to know how you guys go about your research. It's quite comprehensive and yet easy to understand.

airman

I use to stock shelves at a grocery store and at the end of every evening we had to make the end caps look really nice. This was because if the brands came in and saw them messy they would get pissed that they payed a ton of money to get a display and then have the grocery store maintain it poorly.

Luiz Mtz

I work on a supermarket and I always had that question about how products got their place in the shelves.

M vSdV

7y↑86

I suddenly have a craving for Generic Ice Cream...

SkyeScythe

7y↑3

"It tastes OK." ™

Insane Dragon

7y↑1

lol

Prince Diop

7y↑10

Branding.

Nachiket Malpathak

5y↑2

I work in the FMCG industry in India, and this happens even here. Even in corner stores, premium shelf-space is sold for a price.

Laurence Carpenter

I work at a grocery store and while I don't work in inventory, I do know we take recommendations from actual customers on products they want to see (even certain brands in certain sizes. For example an obscure root beer brand we sell came only in 2 liters. A customer asked our manager to bring it in different sizes, and we actually complied

Richard Kenney

Great video about something I deal with every day. Customers are often surprised to hear that their favorite products have been discontinued because the company making it didn't want to pay the slotting fee. "Wait, the companies actually pay for shelf space?" In my opinion it restricts consumer choice (more of the same rather than paying to slot something unique or local), and virtually all of the benefits are had by the corporate buyers rather than the stores themselves. One thing that goes unmentioned in the video is that not all slotting fees are created equal; spaces at eye level and at the ends of the aisle cost a lot more than the middle of the aisle or the top and bottom shelves.

legoman7041

Its not just grocery stores, literally all retail stores do this. I used to work at a Best Buy and every time HP or Google or Dell or Lenovo rolled something out and wanted to put it out on our show floor to get us to sell it, they paid us a bunch of money and sent in some sales reps to stand around and butt into conversations when I was trying to make a sale (for their company). You gotta fight for that premium space cause nobody is gonna buy what they cannot see.

Anthony Cruz

7y↑1

Worked for a time in P&G. Often times, I saw market managers working Planograms to maximize their position in a grocery aisle. The bottom tiers are often the cheapest cause you're least likely to look for items there. Make no mistake, people. These companies have paid very good money to bring their product front and center, so you're more likely to pick up their overpriced goods when something better might be above or below

Stanktatious D

7y↑143

5 million to put candy in front of a store!? Dam I need that in front of my house

Vespene Vapor

7y↑2

It's not worth it... the amount of idiots that you will attract is limitless.

Stanktatious D

7y↑4

sportster1988 omg that's awesome as hell. I couldn't eat a whole pack of M & Ms at once but I eat on them all day and will eventually eat a dozen packs lol. that is bar far the best place for candy in a store, kids will yell and scream for it and EVERYONE looks. just like with the little bags of jerky. I wonder how much they forked out for that space? it wasn't always there

7b7Ben

6y↑1

I work night-crew at a Safeway. It helps that stuff is categorized on the aisles so we can spot the items easily. I will agree though that we need more variety in product brands on the shelf.

iMeatbag

I've been working in a grocery store for over a decade now and I've even done the shelf realignments to add new items into the schematic and to take failed items out. Quite often, the process moves products from high-volume real estate to somewhere slower and it changes the way the product sells just in itself. Even big name brand items with a loyal following can suddenly stop selling just because of where it was moved on the shelf. It's made integrating the computer automated ordering system very maintenance heavy because the sales information the computer tracks changes when the schematic does but the computer doesn't know that on its own. All in all, the real estate war is real and more important than even the packaging, price and quality of your product. Ultimately consumers are often brain-dead when shopping and aren't putting much effort into discovery and awareness. The system isn't rigged so much as it is purely idiotic.

Matthew C

You guys need to make more videos like this or even update this video because this is something serious and needs more attention

Lindsey M

i worked at a grocery store and it was pretty easy to determine what products to sell and where to position them in my department without those fees. we had buyers who made actual decisions.

Celina A

While working in a supermarket, i always wondered why i had to change the product places every week

Mr. Legend Speaks

7y↑15

Now people will understand why their favorite product all the sudden disappeared. They didn't pay up.

Big Bear

3y↑1

😢 mine went away December 2019 I’ll never forget you

Spudy

Working at a grocery store myself, I have wondered about stuff like this, great vid :)

Derek Decker

7y↑2

Haha I worked at Walgreens and put items where they fit. We were provided layouts for the shelving but we found those to be more of a guideline. Whops, hopefully no companies paid too much. Sorry!

Ellen Karlsson

I used to work in a supermarket and shelf space was always limited. If a new product came in another had to go, which one was always decided on demand and sales figures and never on the company providing the product. Where a product were found on the shelves however were often depending on brand, for example the supermarket's own brand of cornflakes would be placed at eyelevel while Kellog's would be places down by the floor.
My supermarket was also a "people pleaser" and they would sometimes keep a product just to please one or two custumers (often seniors who had problem getting to another store). And if they didn't have your product due to low demand they would offer to order a whole box for you to cost price.

Malebitsa Timbuktu

It dawned on me last night that there was this shelf war taking place behind the products and this helped affirm my belief

SkeleCrafter

7y↑121

It's like Net Neutrality on shelves.

Gladius Tr

4y↑1

Actually NetNeutrality prevented this

Erberor

7y↑1

You know, just a few weeks ago at work a lady demanded to see a manager to tell them that we needed to have some Izzes in the refrigerator, and my manager straight up told her that companies pay a lot of money for that shelf space and we have no power over it.

So I guess I already knew that?

tallestGiraffe

I really enjoy these types of interesting videos, with no agenda attached.

Laura Holliday

one thing I have noticed is a huge difference between the US and the UK where I live is that in UK supermarkets there are WAY more supermarket brand items instead of big brands. it seems like the competition is between the big supermarkets (Tesco, sainsburys, ASDA etc) rather than the brands themselves.

Brandon Simmons

7y↑1

great video I was not aware that grocery stores charge fees for self space I had just assumed that the products that sell the best get more space.

Maz Dela Cerna

Glad I stumbled across your channel! We have a lot in common!

Azio Prism

7y↑17

Vox doing great videos this year, keep it up.

Lance Lovecraft

7y↑1

I use to stalk shelves at a grocery store. it was irritating when we would have to reface huge areas of products on the shelves. we would literally move them up or down a shelf or left or right. It never made a difference to me, but I guess it means a lot to these generic companies.

Joshua79C C

I hate it when that happens, I have to remember the new slot where my pop tarts once were to where they were moved to, then again leaving in one place for too long leads to not seeing other items one may find enjoyable and tasty. I rather more dislike when entire isles move around to other isles, much like not all of one stores locations are arranged exactly the same. Let alone not carrying what the other store has in stock.

SpringInFialta

What about things like products that have a dozen varieties taking up shelfspace that could allow for more variety and choice? For example, I think there are now about a dozen different variations of Oreos that clutter the cookie aisle.

MrAlopez1989

I use to work for a bread company in New York City as a vender and yes this is huge I've seen managers and the owners of my company thousands of dollars to each store to get into the store and it's not for sure if it's going to sale or if they are going to keep it

iNREEk

I worked for a soda company. We never paid for end stuff. We just asked the managers. But yeah we had those papers with a picture of where our shelves started and ended

REALhacksDAILY

7y↑115

-with Generic bits
-it is certainly a type of ice cream
-it tastes OK

cattysplat

5y↑2

It is a food that you can insert in your mouth at will, certainly. (2nd box quote, this stuff is hilarious!)

They call me PEPSAYYY

6y↑2

It’s pretty fine

TessellatedGuy

6y↑3

Hey, that's pretty OK

Dennis

I work in a grocery store and sometimes for convenience based on how many products we have on a shelf I will shuffle the spot of something by 1 or 2 spaces. I just now realized that I could have wasted the big companies like a few thousand.

lol

Zibingo Taeam

I'm surprised no one tried a shop with all the weird and market place rejected items, or just generally new stuff as long as its really new. A place where you go more on a discovery for weird foods and less on a trip through a boring grocery shop getting your every day food and assorted items.

Victor Hugo Almeida

It is true I work at a supermarket in Brazil and this war for space and visibility really happen

Ryan Sayre

I used to work at Target, and in fact, Frito-Lay would send in representatives to check ads and stock their items specifically. So I would be stocking things like pretzels and takis, but they set up the cheetos, lays, fritos, etc.

Jeeto

7y↑1

Even though its not really allowed, this is definitely still happening with beer. Maybe not in the slots of the shelves, but the amount of product delivered by the distributors. Budweiser (AB-InBev) and MillerCoors own over 70% of the beer market because they own over 80% of the space in the delivery trucks to grocery stores. Even if there is consumer demand for something else. The big brewers are buying up small breweries that were indy "craft", and making pseudo-craft labels now to put on the truck in those regions to give the appearance of choice to the consumer but they're all still owned by 2 companies.

Stewie Griffin

6y↑19

This seems similar to Net Neutrality, the ISP being the grocery store and major companies paying up which maybe a relativtely insignificant amount to them but a very significant amount for the newcomer and startups.

JT Williams

7y↑1

In the UK it works differently. A small brand wants to get into supermarkets so they give the supermarket more profit margain in the product this then makes the SM's want to sell this over the premium branded products because they earn more money and it works that way :)

Jo McLeod

I worked in a grocery store for 3 years and never noticed this. but it makes sense. I totally get the grocer's argument that it is to recoop losses in staff hours for the time it takes to do planograms. because those are AWFUL. My store never did them as often as we were supposed to but they took SO LONG sometimes and are very labor intensive.

some random broke person

I work in a grocery store and I'm not sure if it's the same in all of them, but vendors from the product companies restock and "style" quite a few of the things we carry. Also the grocery store's brand of products are stocked mid- or eye-level to intrigue customers into buying the stores products since most people look in that section and don't like to look/crouch/stretch too far up or down.

I also learned grocery store customers are awfully lazy with the smallest things (like putting a product they found literally 2 steps back into a completely different area, among other things).

There's a lot of things that go into running a grocery store, and now that these markets use walkie-talkies/handsets, the customers truly never know unless we tell them! There have been times we had little mini-crisis with stuff like back stock items and only the employees knew!

salazizzle

I work in a grocery store and I don't see slotting as a bad thing...well-known brand name items sell a lot faster than lesser-known stuff and simply need more shelf space. It make us more money, both from the slotting fees and higher sales. People are reluctant to try new things, they stick with what they know. Also, Nestle owns a TON of frozen product...they own about 35% of the entire frozen foods section at my store.

damon carrawell

Since I started working at Target I find this very interesting. I work in the food section too

123rockfan

7y↑3

I'll never look at a grocery aisle the same way ever again

xXXDumbWordStupidNumberXXx

Who would dislike this? It's informative, rarely reported and has no political bias, unlike many of their videos admittedly.

Purple Blaze

I worked for Albertsons grocery chain for a year and a half stocking shelves on the graveyard shift. A product would be discontinued and go on clearance, and we knew they did not pay the slotting fees. A month or two later the same product comes back and we knew they paid the slotting fees.

Walmart and a handful of others do not charge slotting fees. Stores like Vons, Safeway, and Albertsons do charge slotting fees and they make so much doing it they could give the food away and still make a profit.

Jason Guarino

This is why Costco is great. The employees of Costco dictate where items go. During my short orientation they made sure to point out that they were very open to suggestions on where stuff should be placed at what time. It may be harder for a generic brand to get in but damn Costco works hard to make sure that the companies in there are in-line. Just a few years ago Coke tried telling Costco that they were selling Coke products too cheap and Costco dropped them from all the stores until Coke caved and allowed more competitive pricing. You get what you pay for with your membership. I'm not trying to be a spokesperson or anything, I just work for the food court and retail is not something I want to go into but I genuinely believe costco is great in the aspect of keeping big companies fair

So Many Fandoms 89

I wonder though... I recently started using InstaCart after a shoulder injury. Through the app, you can easily view hundreds of products. I wonder if things like InstaCart become more main stream, could grocery stores then change the way they showcase food to make it better for these companies and less expensive...?

Sawyer C

5y↑1

I know this VERY well. I work in a gas station (that includes cigarettes of course), and whenever they have to make changes to the cigarette shelves and which goes where, they have to contact EVERY company we have connected to EVERY BRAND of EVERY CIGARETTE we stock. And if one brand is moved and they don’t like where they or their competitors are, they’ll take their brand out of our store without hesitating. Even if a representative comes in from Marlboro and messes with a Winston cigarette rack and changes it, Winston is likely to remove their brand and name from our station completely. Pretty wild

Grant G.

7y↑92

I don't care where the ice cream is placed, I will find blue bell and buy it.

Brandon Diaz

As long as I have access to Cheeto puffs, cheesy ruffles, and Dr Pepper at my grocery store, I am okay. I need these things in my life.

kenrick encinas

i was like oh, then online is here to save the day, then i remembered that online stores come in lists, from the first product on the page to the last, and that leads to "slotting fees" for being listed first.

Dawn Hope

There's also psychology of this. The "eye-level" shelves are more expensive than those at the very top or bottom because they are the first one to be seen by buyers.

Jun Sian Lee

I guess that explains why in Canada, Safeway and SaveOnFoods items cost so much more than other grocery stores which choose not to have slotting fees.

cetriya's Art n Comics Channel

to be honest th grocery stores are already very large to begin with even though unfortunately the five main large provide all of the food in the stores. So long as as a grocery store is open for special orders that's what I end up doing when I want something specific. So if you care about the small businesses were very particular items you can always order it by through the customer service or you can order it online by yourself

Lucy

7y↑90

Basically monopolies are inevitable without proper regulation.

Split Dashcam

I am a bagman for retail stores myself here in Europe,and i just can't belive that slots or shelf shares as we call them here,are actually controlled by government and agencys...otherwise Great video

Plague Doc

This applies to all countries. I always look at the bottom shelfs. Why? Because lets say i'm looking at sauces, the ones at the bottom will most often be more unique and taste differently. Applies to everything from soda to icecream.

M T

True, I have seen people in the store taking pictures and making sure the product companies pay are there.

Justin Sweeney

This is how you can tell that Vox has a good writing team. They developed a theoretical ice cream product as an example for their video. Because of this, the writer was much better at getting his or her point across and the video was much easier to understand for the audience.

Cleopatra Starseed

If I go to the store in search of the brand of ice cream I want, I don't care where it is on the shelf, I'm still buying it 😅. I don't buy products just because of their position, a buy a product because it's the one I like !

gg G

7y↑261

It's like gang territories
Be careful you don't throw up signs in the wrong aisle

Ronm ka

7y↑1

kilroy was here

Ashley shim

Anti Cancerous lmao

gg G

Bruce Dunn West Side
Ayyyyyyyy

Bruce Dunn

7y↑8

Anti Cancerous
West siiide!

Felixkjornsberg

3y↑1

this is why Vox is a successful youtube channel. They report things you wouldnt never know about and they make it short but packed with information.

oh and they tend to not be just political or involved in such industries

Hector Melendez

I work for a major food and beverage company and this is 100 percent true. It's a war! Vendors at each other throat. Store Manager treating you like trash and disrespect you cause your company bought a shelf space. It's sad.

MrAwawe

Considering there are stores that don't charge slotting fees I'd say this one could be left up to the free market just fine.

SlimePlort

Supermarkets aren't pushing their own brands just to take more control, they're doing it to shut out the other competition and monopolise the market. Most brands simply cannot keep up because the supermarket sells their products cheap, since they can easily afford to, either forcing the other brands to enter a profit loss just to stay competitive, or watching as the supermarket takes most of their customers away because it's 'cheaper'. At least, that's what is happening in Australia.

Carlos Matute

This is sad. : (
I'm wondering if the same thing goes for local supermarkets here in the NYC area like Associated, Food Bazzar and Western?

Mona

7y↑30

wow!! ive never even thought about this thanks vox

mike b

Some stores get a free cooler for the soft drinks and only their product can be put in otherwise there may be legal action. I also read that people come by and measure frontage. I have also read they may be told not to but if I was paying for frontage I would have a contract.

John Johnson

I work in an independently owned 3 location health food, vegetarian, supplements, etc store. We don’t have to deal with any of that. I’m a manager in the supplements department and none of that affects me. Thank God!!

Utube Viewer

Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss is a fantastic read on this subject. It changed the way i grocery shop.

Hollz_Drawz

I didn’t realize, but I’m not surprised. Now it makes sense why my favorite small brands don’t seem to last in big stores, but I can find them at bigger cities or specialty stores for 3x the price. I don’t believe Walmart doesn’t do slotting fees...Walmart is the worst for not carrying anything but the big brands.

Steven Wilkins

This is also why they constantly reset shelves and move everything around.Upsetting everyone who cant find anything anymore. All those new items are not going to fit if they dont make room from somewhere. Things come and go, when it happens enough, they make a new planogram and the bidding begins, its normally the salesmen who reset shelves so the employees dont give more space to someone who didnt pay for it.

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