Packaging Matters: A Missed Opportunity with Garnier’s Whole Blends

Let’s start with this: I have nothing against Garnier. I actually use several of their products, and I’m sure their team and the agency they hired, put in real work developing the Whole Blends line. But as a brand strategist, I can’t help but call out what feels like a major miss in their packaging and logo execution.

While at the gym, I caught a Whole Blends commercial, without sound, and instantly thought it was a parody of a 1970s shampoo ad. The visuals alone conjured a sense of overly sweet coconut scent, greasy residue, and limp, weighed-down hair. It turns out, the ad wasn’t a spoof. That was the real branding.

Garnier’s move toward a more natural, clean product line? Smart. There’s demand for cleaner ingredients and sustainability in the hair care space. But when you look at the visual identity of truly natural brands, think simple, clean, wholesome, you see minimalism and calm sophistication. Whole Blends’ packaging, on the other hand, felt nostalgic in the wrong way. It screamed “retro kitsch” rather than “clean beauty.”

To illustrate, here are a few brands that hit the mark visually when it comes to natural products (think: packaging simplicity, logo clarity, and a cohesive, modern aesthetic). Compared to those, Whole Blends’ heavy-handed 70s vibe feels misaligned, especially since they’re targeting millennial moms and natural lifestyle buyers, not boomer nostalgia.

Here’s the big takeaway: logos and packaging aren’t just decoration. They’re communication tools. They are often the first impression, and sometimes the only impression, your audience gets. In Garnier’s case, the disconnect between the product message and the packaging design left a lasting impression… just not the one they intended.