Your letter to that company was right on target. But I suspect it did little good if it was eventually directed to the product manager of the soap you refered to. He probably changed the soap because sales were dropping. Or, more likely, just because sales weren't rising fast enough. He was probably under pressure to "fix the problem". He was probably desperate.

He did not push the effort to develop a new modification or packaging because it would serve the consumer, or even the company, better. He did it because he thought it would make him look essential and innovative, hence more valuable to the company.

And if his boss isn't sharp enough to pick up on that, he'll get away with it and keep right on doing it.

Its all a function of heirarchical systems, whether public or private: elementary bureaucratic behavior. We can get more done in groups than by ourselves, but we pay a price for it. The more complex, capable and productive a system is, the larger a proportion of its own resources must be devoted to its internal management. And there is always friction where two parts rub together.

You're a Terry Gilliam fan. Surely you remember "Brazil".