History Main / ISOStandardUrbanGroceries

If a character lives in TheCity and has just come home from shopping, they will inevitably be carrying a single brown paper bag (despite the fact that in many places, paper bags must be specifically asked for these days and reusable grocery bags have gained substantial popularity) from which protrudes a baguette (loaf of French bread) and the greens of a bunch of carrots or celery; neither of these will be separately wrapped or packaged.

If the bag is emptied on-camera (perhaps in a MeetCute), there will also be a quart of milk and a dozen eggs. Optionally, orange juice and/or a cut of meat may be present.

The trope name plays with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization International Organization for Standardization]]'s tendency to establish consistent standards. If a person in a movie is carrying a grocery bag filled with Twinkies, Mountain Dew, beer and pasteurized process sandwich spread, the audience will focus on that, while this trope is generally just a quick way to show that someone has gone shopping.

Because commodity foodstuffs are often sold loose or unlabeled, this trope may have its origins in avoiding BrandX or ProductPlacement issues. See also BaguetteBeatdown. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant May or may not]] be related to VillainsOutShopping. Has nothing to do with [[Film/TronLegacy the other ISOs]].

* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' Amelia, while carrying a large cloth sack of food, (which has two loaves of french bread sticking out the top) tries to save Lina and Gourry from a bunch of bandits by attacking them from a high cliff. She crashes to the ground, which causes the food to fly out, including meat, more bread, and fruit.

* Played with in ''Film/TheLostWeekend''. Don Birnam, a hopeless alcoholic, gets two bottles of rye with ten dollars he stole from his brother. But he doesn't want people in the neighborhood to think that he's going out buying liquor in the morning, so he buys a few pieces of fruit to put in the top of the bag to make it ''look'' like he just went out for groceries.
* Seen played straight in ''Film/TheGodfather'', at least for the oranges part. Except in this case, while the Don is buying said oranges from the fruit vendor, a bunch of thugs show up and shoot him a few times, inevitably causing him to drop the oranges. This is a trope in itself; the producer used oranges to 'brighten up' otherwise grim scenes and dark sets -- therefore, you can find oranges in many scenes where someone dies. Which is also a bit of a GeniusBonus referencing the Mafia's original role running protection rackets on Sicilian orange-growers.

* A baguette is poking out of a bag of groceries brought home by Inspector Clouseau in ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther''. When caught inspecting the front page of a neighbor's newspaper, he is whomped on the head with said bread.

* Exaggerated in ''Film/MichaelClayton'': Michael finds Arthur walking with a paper grocery bag filled with nothing BUT baguettes.
* April O'Neil is seen with one with a visible baguette when arriving back to her apartment in ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze''.
* Seen in ''Film/RumbleInTheBronx''. The baguette is even wrapped and labeled as such.
* In the first ''Film/DeathWish'', this is one of the ways the police narrow the search for the vigilante: after a subway mugger is killed they find an abandoned bag of groceries on a seat on the train across from his body with a receipt from D'Agostinos in his neighborhood, in which they (correctly) figure the vigilante bought them at the store near his home.
* In ''Film/TheBestOffer'', the hero delivers two grocery bags to his love interst. We see a baguette sticking out from one of them.
* ''Film/MadameRosa'': Maybe, if you actually live in France like Rosa does, it's OK to come home from the grocery with a paper bag that has a loaf of French bread sticking out.

* In ''Film/{{Madeline}}'', the shopping includes two baguettes, but instead of protruding from bags, two of the girls sword-fight with them.

** Averted in "Deadly Medicine"--Duncan was getting items for an Italian meal, so there were tomatoes, among other things. There was some bread, though, probably for garlic bread. It got knocked to the ground when Duncan was hit by the car.

* Penelo features a fantasy version in [[spoiler:the finale of]] ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''

* The ''{{Website/CollegeHumor}}'' sketch "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3WVwy82UQQ 7-Way Meet Cute]]" - "My bag of loose oranges and one French baguette!". Six of which appear out of nowhere.

* Linna is seen walking around with a bag with a baguette sticking out of it in one episode of ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis.''
* A variation is observed in ''Manga/CellsAtWork'', a series that [[CastOfPersonifications personifies]] human cells as humans living in a big city. In this universe, Red Blood Cells [[ArtisticLicenseBiology also transport nutrients (which in real life is dissolved in blood, not carried by cells)]], which is represented by they occasionally [[{{courier}} carrying]] a food basket that without fail contains at least one baguette sandwich.

* In a season 2 episode of ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', Siesta is seen carrying a grocery bag with a baguette and, as seen when she drops it, an apple.

* In episode 4 of ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'', Nao is carrying three grocery bags, a leek protuding from one and a daikon radish from another, when she comes across the panicking Miyuki.
* Rico carries one of these in the opening for the first season of ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''.
* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' Amelia, while carrying a large cloth sack of food, (which has two loaves of french bread sticking out the top) tries to save Lina and Gourry from a bunch of bandits by attacking them from a high cliff. She crashes to the ground, which causes the food to fly out, including meat, more bread, and fruit.
* On the cover of the first volume of ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama is depicted in his superhero costume, carrying a bag of groceries with the standard protruding leek. The final shot of the anime's first opening uses a similar motif.

[[folder:Live Action TV ]]

* In ''Series/SpacePrecinct'', we see that three-eyed aliens in the future still fill their shopping bags with that mandatory baguette.
* Turns up in ''Series/{{Lovejoy}}'' tv series, the episode "The Axeman Cometh"; possibly the french loaf sticking out of the bag was to hammer home to the audience that the character holding it [[OohMeAccentsSlipping was meant]] to be French.

* Parodied in an episode of ''[[Series/DontTrustTheBInApartment23 Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23]]'', when Chloe sets up a FunnyBackgroundEvent during a walking conversation with James by stealing a baguette from a passing shopper's bag.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'':
** Played straight in "Nothing for Something." Mac's old partner, William Hunt, goes after a perp they put away who's out of jail and up to his old tricks. He carries your standard-issue bag of groceries complete with baguette into an alley he knows the guy will be walking through. When the guy gets there, the bread, an orange, some paper towels, etc are scattered around and Hunt is nowhere to be seen. Hunt jumps out, beats the guy to a pulp, calmly gathers his groceries and walks away.
** Downplayed in "Slainte." After having cancelled ''another'' dinner date, Mac tries to make things up to Christine by showing up at her restaurant with what appears to be a plain, medium-sized gift bag. It has handles and nothing is seen sticking out of it. She offers to fix him something to eat; he says he thought they'd fix something together. A minute later, they're in the kitchen and he's slicing up a small baguette which he uses to make brucshetta for her.

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy ]]

[[folder:This Very Wiki ]]

[[folder:Video Games ]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' with the item [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Stale_baguette "Stale baguette."]] Eating one results in a minor [[GlobalCurrency Meat]] loss, since anybody with the aforementioned baguette is bound to get robbed in a dark alley shortly after purchase.

* Nene of ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' carries the Japanese standard leek in one of her bags even during battle, for some reason. If uncapped twice, her groceries even upgrade to the western baguette!

* Some of the anti-Resistance propaganda posters in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' feature a woman dropping a standard bag of groceries.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', anyone in the Beauty trainer class is depicted holding one of these in [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:VSBeauty.png their VS artwork.]] The baguette at least makes sense, as the game is set in the Pokemon version of France.
* In ''Antique Road Trip: American Dreamin''' one of the hidden objects you can find in Christmas Alley: Helena, Montana is a bag of groceries with celery sticking out.
* In ''Bella Design'' housewife customers carry a bag of groceries including a baguette and something green and leafy.
* The launch trailer for ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' shows a woman dropping a bag of groceries as she flees from a robbery, spilling fruit, vegetables, and breakfast cereal everywhere. [[TrailersAlwaysLie This can never actually happen in-game, however.]]

[[folder:Western Animation ]]
* Mr. Krabs brings home such a bag in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Wet Painters" (see picture).
* You will at least see Lois in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' heading home with grocery bags like this such as the episode "Brian In Love" when she unloads the bags out of her car before being hose sprayed by Peter.
* Brown paper grocery bags with baguettes can be seen in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "A Rover Runs Through It".
** In Season 10 Episode 14, "Hank's Bully", Caleb's parents are seen holding grocery bags with a whopping FIVE baguettes sticking out of the top.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' features maybe the best known aversion: A very smart little girl marches down the street, constantly reciting, "A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter..." all the way to the store. This line actually predates and goes beyond Sesame Street, the first recorded use was in a WesternAnimation/PorkyPig cartoon, and has been used many times since, including an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' where Johnny recites the mantra, then gets distracted, then returns to his task saying "Now back to getting momma a loaf of buttermilk."

* At the beginning of the ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace'' episode, "[[Recap/DennisTheMenace1986S1E3 The Life You Save]]", Margaret is seen carrying a brown paper grocery bag, and as a result, she can't see the runaway shopping cart heading towards her, meaning Dennis has to push her out of the way.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', anyone in the Beauty trainer class is depicted holding one of these in [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:VSBeauty.png their VS artwork.]]
** Well, the game DOES take place in Kalos, the Pokemon-version of France (to the point where one Gym Leader has his Gym set up in what looks very much like the Eiffel Tower...)

* Lampshaded in a window display of a Cincinnati department store (they had one display window facing onto an alley, which they usually used for displays with a sense of humor). A female mannequin, dressed only in one towel around her body and another around her head, had opened the door to find three potential mannequin suitors holding grocery bags, The one wearing an elegant suit had a bag containing the requisite baguette, spaghetti (raw), and a bottle presumably of wine. The one dressed for watching a sporting event had potato chips prominently in his bag. The one who looked like he had picked up random clothes off the floor had a bag of White Castle hamburgers.

* In the 2010 Eddie Lebron FanFilm of ''WebVideo/MegaMan'', Dr. Wily, before planning his revenge removes bran flakes and a roll of paper towels from a paper bag, sets them on his kitchen counter, and then sits down to think up his evil scheme...

-->-- [[http://www.avforums.com/threads/the-hollywood-rule-book.32262/ ''Hollywood Rule Book'']], ''Vanity Fair''

* On the cover of the first volume of ''Manga/OnePunchMan'', Saitama is depicted in his superhero costume, carrying a bag of groceries with the standard protruding leek.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Stand-Up Comedy ]]

[[folder: This Very Wiki ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''[[Anime/FZeroLegendOfFalcon F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu]]'', Bart Lemming is seen, twice in the same episode, carrying a grocery bag with a baguette in it.

If a character lives in TheCity and has just come home from shopping, he or she will inevitably be carrying a single brown paper bag (despite the fact that in many places, paper bags must be specifically asked for these days and reusable grocery bags have gained substantial popularity) from which protrudes a baguette (loaf of French bread) and the greens of a bunch of carrots or celery; neither of these will be separately wrapped or packaged.

In Japanese media, leeks and/or daikon radishes (a large white, carrot-shaped tuber) are the typical stock groceries.

If a character lives in TheCity and has just come home from shopping, he or she will inevitably be carrying a single brown paper bag (despite the fact that in many places, paper bags must be specifically asked for these days and reusable grocery bags have gained substantial popularity) from which protrudes a baguette (loaf of French bread) and the greens of a bunch of carrots; neither of these will be separately wrapped or packaged.

If a character lives in TheCity and has just come home from shopping, he or she will inevitably be carrying a single brown paper bag (despite the fact that in many places, paper bags must be specifically asked for these days) from which protrudes a baguette (loaf of French bread) and the greens of a bunch of carrots; neither of these will be separately wrapped or packaged.

[[caption-width-right:288:[-...I really hope that milk came from sea cows.-]]]

* Some of the anti-Resistance propaganda posters in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' feature a woman dropping a bag of ISOStandardUrbanGroceries.

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/krabs2.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:300:...I really hope that milk came from sea cows.]]-]

* In the 2010 Eddie Lebron fan film of Film/MegaMan, Dr. Wily, before planning his revenge removes bran flakes and a roll of paper towels from a paper bag, sets them on his kitchen counter, and then sits down to think up his evil scheme...

* The ''CollegeHumor'' sketch "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3WVwy82UQQ 7-Way Meet Cute]]" - "My bag of loose oranges and one French baguette!". Six of which appear out of nowhere.