The Concept
The Forbidden Fruit concept was born from my thought that you needed to have an edge. We thought of many names, some good, some lame. We chose The Forbidden Fruit because it had an edge of naughtiness about it, a sense of mischief. The thought was that if it sounded a little bit naughty it would make people want to shop with us. It seems to be the way the world goes these days, if it’s bad for you or goes against the trend then it will draw a crowd. I felt the name was such a strong and definitive concept that I decided to trademark it, and thus it is our own.
Our smiley face logo, which is also trademarked, is an idea I liked because it was just about smiling. I know for a fact that it has made an impression on many a person’s day whether in the shop or on the road, when they see our big red truck coming at them with a big smile across the front. It certainly puts a smile on my dial.
“Any Fresher You’d Slap It’s Face” is our slogan. It’s actually an old saying, however it certainly has resulted in many laughs, especially from the younger crowd, even if they perhaps do not even know the meaning of it.
Our labels in the shop also entertain our customers. We do not simply have oranges, nectarines and mangoes. To fit in with our ‘Forbidden Fruit’ theme, we have Kinky Kiwis, Horny Honeydew, Naughty Nectarines and Raunchy Rockies, not to mention Tantalizing Tomatoes, Amorous Avocadoes and Risqué Radishes. The chuckles of laughter heard constantly from new customers is enough to make us glad that we made that little bit of extra effort to make people laugh and put a bit of a spark in their day. We have had many a customer ask if they really are ‘magic’ mushrooms that we are selling! We have a list of them on the back of our business cards and they have become something of a collector’s item. The biggest laughs of all are when lovely ‘little old ladies’ come in and ask if the orgasmic oranges come with a guarantee!