IceCreMan,
My motto is that the customer is always right, and if you are dissatisfied please PM or e-mail Mark, and he will make it right. And the stickers were a real error that slipped by me due to illness at the time, so you are absolutely right there by any standard.
But the only thing that changed about the Parliament was the color, which was a printer error. The flavor is absolutely 100% the same. And many people both in and out of the V4L crew can attest to that. It is an interesting fact, and in this case an unfortunate one, that color affects our perception of flavor. We experienced this also with the last batch of Pina Colada, which the printers also screwed up, making them a dark blue instead of light blue. Nothing else changed, but some people thought the flavor tasted different.
Here are some research papers on the subject, reposted from
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/vapor4life/56091-new-parliment.html#post841254:
Re: Does the appearance of food have an affect on people's perception of taste?
"and yes, food color does influence what flavor people think they are tasting."
Emerald: Article Request - The role of visual cues in consumer perception and acceptance of a food product
"Texture and flavour have long since been known to exert an effect on consumer perception. However, the first taste is almost always with the eye. This is especially the case where a food product is sold through its appearance, rather than through its packaging. In addition, appearance can have a halo effect which modifies subsequent flavour perception and food acceptability"
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1990-27365-001&CFID=4940963&CFTOKEN=53282470
"We conclude that color induces a weak olfactory percept that combines with odorant-induced percepts. The effect may be due to conditioning or may be the result of residual intersensory neural connections left over from infancy."
INFLUENCE OF COLOR ON TASTE THRESHOLDS -- MAGA 1 (1): 115 -- Chemical Senses
"Thus, psychological color association can alter reports of certain basic taste sensations."