Prada Flower – Courtesy of Peddy Mergui.

At Milan Expo 2015, Peddy Mergui show-cased the exhibition Wheat is Wheat is Weath at Israel Pavilion. The Project features everyday products like milk, coffe, oil, instant noodles and pasta the way they would look if they were packaged by luxury brands.

Milk by Apple

From the iMilk to the flour that wears Prada but also Versace eggs, Luis Vuitton salami and linguine by Ferrari… But with a simple question: “Would you buy these products with an extra price because of their fancy packaging or the posh brand name on them?”

Fruits by Nyke – Courtesy of Expo 2015.

RELATED STORY: Join ArchiPanic’s tour around the world at Expo Milan focused on the motto Feed the Planet and find out more on Israel Pavilion by David Knafo.

Peddy Mergui asked to visitors what they would do with these products. If Tiffany launched on the market a posh yogurt, would people follow marketing rules or touch base with reality? Is wheat really wheat? Is Prada wheat better then average wheat because it has a fancy logo on it?

Versace Eggs

Peddy Mergui says ArchiPanic “Expo is a very challenging task for those who want to truly investigate the main motto Feed the planet. But what about consumerism? My project is not a challenge or a provocation. It is just a simple question to make people reflect”.

At Expo Milan, Zero Pavilion offers a further reflection. The pavilion designed by Michele De Lucchi hosts an exhibition about the history of nutrition from the invention of agriculture to nowaday’s food-waste issues. The exhibition is curated by Davide Rampello and features an installation of the Nowadays Stock Exchange of Food Products.

Zero Pavilion – Courtesy of Expo 2015.

Large screens show grocery prices in different countries but also food adverts from all over the planet. The installation suggests that the real price of wheat is not related to the real Demand & Supply economy. The cost of what we buy everyday is determined by major financial and marketing interests but also multinational profits.

Pasta by Ferrari – Courtesy of Peddy Mergui.

Peddy Mergui’s project aims to touch basis again: “The World of branding begins and ends in adding value. As soon as succeed to add value, no matter the field, I’m selling something beyond the product, and I did the work of branding faithfully. And this is all the work of the design and branding in the exhibition, its taking consumerism to the extreme”.

Luis Vuitton Salami

RELATED STORY: K-Ration, Giulio Iacchetti’s food-design exhibition suggests a reflection on the most anonymous and glamour-free and marketing-free design ever: military field rations packaging.

Peddy Mergui is an Israeli designer and senior professor of design at the Holon Institute of Technology with over 20 years of practical industry and academic experience in the world of design and branding.

Instant noodles by Burberry.

Known for his ability to translate graphic language and visual communication into “rule-breaking” designs and concepts, Peddy has led significant and diverse advertising campaigns as well as a wide variety of projects involving brand building, packaging and product perception.

Bisquit by Dolce & Gabbana.

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