This marketing idiom annoys me to no end, seeing as how it’s impossible. If something is NEW, it hasn’t existed before. If something is IMPROVED, it was already in existence and somehow made better, so how can something be "new and improved", as so many products claim to be? >:(

I’m with you on this one, Axeman2k3.  I’ve never understood it either.

I also agree that this is foolish.

How about have "editions" of things like slurpee cups or bobble head dolls that can’t possibly have been edited?

[quote author=rosewoman link=board=idiom;num=1041753029;start=0#2 date=01/10/03 at 14:44:50]I also agree that this is foolish.

How about have "editions" of things like slurpee cups or bobble head dolls that can’t possibly have been edited?

Probably from definitions 4 and 5, which appear to be based on 1a and 1d, respectively.  

edition . . .

1.  

 a.  The entire number of copies of a publication issued at one time or from a single set of type . . .

 d.  A version of an earlier publication having substantial changes or additions: a newly revised edition of a standard reference work . . .

4.
 
 a.  The entire number of like or identical items issued or produced as a set: a limited edition of early jazz recordings; a signed edition of a group of lithographs.

 b.  Any of the various or successive forms in which something is offered or presented: this year’s edition of fall fashions from Paris.

 5.  One that closely resembles an original; a version: The boy was a smaller edition of his father. . . .

You’ve touched a tender spot here with one omy pet peeves (I have only a few).

I hate it when the marketeers ‘improve’ something that is just fine as it is. I’ll go on buying the old one for years but the new one is ‘improved’ out of all recognition!

This is especially important with ‘improved’ recipes. The new one tastes worse or includes some unnecessary ingredient that I refuse to consume. Bah humbug. (rant over, feeling better now, thank you)

Bryn

Where does the phrase ‘new and improved’ appear the most? On common products that compete for sales in a mature market.

A mature market is one such as the ‘toothpaste market,’ where toothpaste is found in virtually every home and the total amount of toothpaste sold in a year can grow only as the population grows. This means that Toothpaste A can enjoy an increase in sales only at the expense of Toothpaste B.

Though products such as toothpaste cost only pennies, the fact that they are regularly used by almost everyone means that the total sales volumes are enormous. (Quick U.S. calculation: 250 million people x 12 tubes of toothpaste annually x $1 per tube = $3 billion.) Gaining even one additional percent the market thus represents $30 million - not at all shabby.  

Though we all know there is little difference between these everyday household products, advertising research indicates that the phrase ‘new and improved’ in fact does increase sales. For a while. Then the ‘novelty’ wears off, a percentage of consumers switches to another product (now also with a ‘new and improved’ tagline) and the cycle continues.