[DanBC]

> has opened up

The marketing hype was good - similar meal replacement products have existed for many years and so people could have bought something off the shelf of their local Walgreens[1] for their walk in the park, but they didn't appear to realise it until soylent appeared.

[1] I say Walgreens because it's the only US drugstore I know. Substitute Boots in the UK or whatever for where you are.

[dragonwriter]

The big difference is that the competing products have been marketed heavily to those who are elderly or have special medical needs that make regular food problematic (specialized forms have also been marketed as weight loss aids, etc., as well.)

The big innovation in Soylent is not the product (though there are some differences in the product) but in targeting healthy, upper-income demographics with marketing.