Judging a Pie by it's cover

I went in to Listons this morning to get some hopefully yummy salad boxes for myself and my erstwhile producer John, for our brainstorming lunch today, and when I got to the  cash register the attendant was on the phone to what as obviously a supplier, talking about packaging. It sounded intriguing so when she got off the phone I asked her what it was about. She told me they had been selling these delicious organic pies from a local farmer that the customers couldn't get enough off. They were home made and simply wrapped in cellophane. As business was doing so well, the farmer decided to invest in some nice boxed packaging for the individual pies. As time went by sales trailed off to the point where they were going to cancel the order. Before doing so though, the manager suggested to the farmer that they try the old cellophane packaging again and sure enough the things started flying out the door again. People simply felt that the cling film suggested something fresher and more genuine and Farmer Pie is back in business. 

Where it would have seemed that clever packaging would up the product sales, the opposite in fact was true.