By Renée Whitworth, Flood Creative
It is going to get a bit quieter in America real soon. As soon as the last biodegradable SunChips bag from Frito Lay leaves the shelf.
If you ever bought one of these bags, you know my sarcasm is justified this time. Being in the packaging business for over 15 years, I find that if I see something new to the market and I do not get it, I wonder how the masses will. This is one of those cases.
A year and a half ago the bag was launched on earth day with a campaign that confused me at first. If you have never seen it, watch now.
Looks good at first. A few things to note:
1. See the flower at the end. I thought the bag had flower seeds in it. Actually it doesn’t. But if you do a little digging you’ll learn that you can fill the bag with soil and seeds and then plant it. Wait, I can just plant seeds without a bag too?
2. Okay, so do I throw it in the trash or am I supposed to just drop it wherever I eat the last chip like a cigarette butt? Do I put it in the recycling bin? No. Actually it’s compostable—so, according to the website either you have to build a compost bin or find an industrial composting facility in your area.
This is getting complicated. But I have been eating SunChips since college. And we should support such efforts to save the planet. So let’s give it a try.
OMG. This bag should be endorsed by Weight Watchers or be a sponsor for The Biggest Loser. The noise this bag makes is 20 times louder than any other chip bag. It was tested to produce a decibel level of 95, which is equal to a motorcycle. So from the time you pick it up, through every other thing that touches it in the shopping cart, to putting it on the conveyor belt, etc. etc. It is LOUD. And when you get it home, you might as well have a big cowbell around your neck to announce that you are snacking (again).
Fast forward to today and there is Facebook page called: SORRY BUT I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SUN CHIPS BAG»
It’s all so easy to pick things apart these days and quickly gather momentum. I feel bad for those just trying to make a difference. Trust me I am the recycling fanatic in our office. But in the end it was too loud and too much work. And the social aspect of snacking was never factored in. When I bought my first concentrated laundry detergent it was a win-win-win. Lighter to carry, took up less space at home, and saved me money. And even if the people who work the recycling trucks judge me for the number of wine bottles in the bin, I’ll never know for sure. But I do not want alarm bells to go off every time I have a chip. Or use my GPS to find a facility that can maintain a temperature above 130 degrees.
The job of innovation is for the smart people to do all the hard work upfront, charge enough to recoup the time and money invested, and then have the rest of us choose a new behavior and have it become so natural and intuitive that we forget that first uneasy step. In this case, the bag became baggage. But I do truly hope someone tries again.
About the Author
Renée Whitworth is a strategic partner at Flood Creative in New York. Over the last 15 years she has developed a reputation for providing unique insights that help every facet of design come together with a singular, shared focus.