The death of the Sun Chips Bag--Frito Lay's failure to make the noise a badge of honor!
- Filed in:
- Bags & pouches,
- Compost & Biodegrade,
- Food
Jim Chrzan
What does the death of the Sun Chips bag say about U.S. commitment to sustainability or Frito Lay's, for that matter?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39519624/ns/business-consumer_news/
There have been plenty of cases where marketers have taken an ugly car or other unattractive feature of a product and made it a "badge of honor" and therefore attractive to committed consumers.
The bag was loud. After investing all that R & D and setting up production, and getting a lot of ink, could you not run an ad campaign where slobs are throwing trash out the car window and complain about the noise and a clean cut group of kids cleaning up a park pick up the bag and say, "they just don't get it--this is the sound of a clean planet?"
So people are unwilling to pay extra for sustainable packaging, and now they are unwilling to be inconvenienced by a loud bag? Please don't show me any more studies about how important this is to folks--it isn't!
Important means you are willing to make some sacrifice on some level to commit. This is all lip service.
Sustainable packaging must move out of the public "popularity"flavor of the month club and become the lens we look through to run our business's more efficiently. If it helps the earth, great. But don't be basing your changes on satisfying the public's demand for green.
* indicates an article that was submitted directly to this Web site by the supplier, and was not handled by the Greener Package editorial staff.
Greener Package may share your contact information with our sponsors, as detailed in our Privacy Policy. Greener Package will not share your information with a sponsor whose content you have not reviewed. The members of the Advisory Board and Expert Network do not review, approve or endorse advertisements on this Web site.
The Demise of the Sun Chip Bag
dennis@salazarpackaging.com
Great post Jim and I could not agree with you more.
Many, if not most companies and consumers are willing to do the right thing as long as it doesn't cost anything or present any personal inconvenience or discomfort.
I think this example of a failed green product introduction also says a great deal about packaging manaufacturers and their "rush to green". If this product had been properly test marketed, the problem would have been discovered and the correction made before it became front page news.
The product was not reviewed properly and now the massive PR that was sought becomes a huge negative for all concerned, including the the sustainability cause because now other companies are likely to use this fiasco as an excuse to not create or introduce new and greener products and solutions.
I'm not sure what is worse, packaging people making green decisions or green people making packaging decisions but this should probably be the expected end result of either.
Dennis Salazar
President
Salazar Packaging, Inc.
Not Sure I Agree...
Anonymous...I think some consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable options. I don't eat a lot of chips, but I specifically bought those because of their initiative. Did you buy a bag? Loud is an understatement. You'd actually have to transfer the chips into baggies or another container because of how irritatingly loud it was....and does that somewhat defeat the purpose? Sustainable options also need to be realistic ones & people are constantly opening & closing their chip bags. If it was a one time noise irritation that may be different.... I didn't purchase another bag after that strictly because of the sound & have since bought other things in it's place (also in more sustainable packages)
Not all irritating properties signal virtue
Timothy Bohrer
Not all irritating properties can be spun into positive signature attributes; ugly is in the eye of the beholder, but loud is just plain loud. Instead of a 'green' signal, think instead of the sound as a signal you're sneaking a snack before dinner, an unintended invitation to all in the office to come over and share, missing the key dialogue in the TV show or movie because it got drowned out, or simply wreaking a quiet moment and I think you get closer to how consumers were responding.
I don't buy the argument that we have to wear hair shirts and accept whatever we are presented with, just because we are told it is more "responsible" or better for us. Making a sacrifice for something one believes in, like separating recyclable waste, is different from actively seeking out sources of irritation. Especially for what to the consumer is a very small part of their activities and impact, for which there are options. We need a society filled with people equipped with well-honed critical thinking skills; we will be more creative and make better, more informed decisions. Along with that, however, comes the possibility that folks say "No. That tradeoff is too great", and send us back to the drawing board.
The stage has also changed; bad 1st impressions, while rarely good, are even more deadly in today's social networking world. In the 'old' days such messages spread by word of mouth. Now before the 1st echo dies down it goes viral around the world in living sound and color - and much of the target audience for the product gets distracted, rather than even getting to the point of thinking whether it is possibly an advance.
While there might (stress might) have been a chance to "save" the entire introduction with some self-deprecating humor and clever messaging, that probably was not a good strategy for the long term. They are off to retool, do some clever technical work supplemented by clever marketing, and try again. A well intended effort that could have been an interesting test of the US consumer around renewable/compostable/etc. unfortunately has been, at least for now, largely lost in all the noise (pun intended).
Sometimes even the best CPG's miss - its no fun when it happens, and I'm not for gloating, as big packaging misses reflect on the whole industry. But I also know that there will and should be experiments on the sustainability front and not all of them will work - its just awfully painful when they are highly visible and expensive, and I really want the industry to be one that the consumer understands and respects.
We are a lot more than the garbage left over after the product is gone. Our industry has, does and will make life better for people. Our challenge is to continue to do that in new, different, higher performing and more sustainable ways. All the time.
The bag that ROARED !
Dean Bellefleur
The way I see it Frito Lay has the potential to immortalize the chip bag as Andy Warhol immortalized the tin can. Already the story is being followed by media giants as the bag that made too much noise. Accidental or not it would be a mistake not to capitalize on this publicity.
Marketing is a fickle business that requires finesse, novelty and a vision. Rather than admit defeat apply the Midas Touch. I’m waiting for the offer to lead the brainstorming session on this one; so many triggers to play with from “the sounds of it.”
Are we surprised that consumers will not compromise their expectations of packaging or at the end of the day pay more for it? “ Would you pay less for..” is a standard line on marketing surveys that fails to correlate with the actual purchase decision.
On the topic of sustainability there is a report that tells it like it is, regarding the consumers lack of understanding pertaining to Environmental Concerns: The impact on beverage and package decisions. The report can be downloaded from www.beveragepulse.com
I like to end my presentations on innovation with this statement, “No idea is a bad idea it’s just under developed”.
noisy bags
jakobneu
If Frito Lay spent as much money on promoting their green chips bags as they do for their chips - then it wouldnt be a problem. For example, on http://www.lookrichforless.com then consumers are told that the site webhostings uses renewable energy only for its power needs and that is also the reason why the site doesnt use fancy graphics - to cut electricity bill. So, Frito Lay could simply explain on their bags that they make noise because they are green bags.
Research Shows...
Kaylor Hildenbrand...As a qualitative research consultant, I, too, wondered what type of consumer research the company employed to determine that this bag would be successful. I could pull multiple reports from projects I have conducted in other categories and for other clients (Frito Lay is not a current client) that tell us consumers want snack packaging to be quiet because of where and how they are enjoying their snacks - in front of the TV, at their desk, etc. And then there are those who want to "sneak" a snack - impossible with these bags. I applaud Frito Lay's efforts in going green, however, they asked the consumer to accept a package that clearly had issues and that did not offer any other benefit beyond "green", such as a re-close feature, or an easy-open feature. Had other value been offered, the pill might have been a little easier to accept - and yet, I can just imagine the comments I would have heard had I taken the package into a home-use test or brought it into the focus group room. It is true that we are still at a point in time where going green is best accepted by the majority of consumers when it is done in a way that does not require them to make sacrifices or change their behavior. I do not agree that spending more money to promote the bag, as noted in one comment, would have had any positive effect. Rather, those costs must be covered in some way, and consumers are certainly not ready to accept sacrifice and pay more for it.
To capitalize on this, Frito Lay should not just back off of the effort, but rather move forward witht heir green efforts, in a more consumer-friendly way, all the while shouting to their customers "Our turn - we heard you, and we are working hard to meet the challenge."
DISAPPOINTMENT
Thomas Oris
How long was this bag on the market? It wasn't as if, from my understanding, their was this groundswell of disapproval. It was only when it hit the media (I'm not blaming the media) and they began receiving negative press did, in my opinion, Frito Lay cave in. Many organizations, like celebrities, can take negative publicity and turn it into something positive. Some say "publicity is good" whether it's bad or good, and I think the makers/marketers of Sun Chips did a horrendous job, as jakobneu noted in an earlier post here, of taking the window of opportunity they had with the media to PROMOTE the BENEFITS of the bag. Heck, at least it could have opened dialogue on the larger issue of sustainability! It isn't as if the mainstream media pays much, if any, attention today!
Either way, this bag is NOT a failure. It represents a big step in the right direction, followed by a small step backwards. We, the people in the packaging industry, need to find means by which we can get our message out to more people, more media, more coverage to increase awareness, promote solutions, solicit input!
Getting consumers talking
Kaylor Hildenbrand...Hi Thomas - I couldn't agree with you more in that it is important to get consumers talking. I am a qualitative research consultant who happens to do a lot of consumer research on packaging. I realized that people have very strong opinions but often only express them when asked. There was, in fact, a Facebook page that someone started regarding the Sun Chips bag that got quite a bit of attention. Just last week, I launched a new website www.packagespeak.com in an effort to get people talking and to hopefully offer the industry a window into consumer perceptions once it gets rolling. I'd love for you to check it out and if you Iike the idea, share the site with others, particulary general consumers within your network. Some upcoming articles will raise the topic of sustainability.
PLA bag was rejected by compost facilities
Tim Dunn
The new bags were rejected by many commercial composters because they were too thick to degrade in the time frame advertised - and so the bags violated the FTCs rules about false advertising. In fact, PLA is not home compostable, and is not advertised by its makers as biodegradable in landfills, so PLA in fact offered no advantage, unless you call reducing the grain supply an advantage. If we made all of the disposable plastic products thrown into landfills out of corn, we would be removing 18% of US farmland from the world's food supply - enough to feed 500,000,000 people - in a world in which 1.2 billion people are hungry. See: http://earthnurture for a biodegradable plastic alternative with none of these downsides.
Potato Chips in Paper-based Packaging: Why not?
Islem Yezza...'m wondering why we do not use paper coated with water-based coatings capable to offer a high barrier to gas and moisture with excellent resistance to grease, salt and oil. The bag will be 100% Renewable, Recyclable, Repulpable and Compostable.
We are making plastic looking like paper. Let’s make eco-friendly and appealing packaging made from paper with enhanced barrier properties.
The info just gets worse
N. J. Boone...The more we hear about this the worse F/L's decisions look. I'm increasingly amazed at how far off the mark they were on this one. As I've posted previously, they are an amazing company with marketing 'way better than this. I can only imagine that some small powerful faction and internal politics pushed this past the voices of reason there. I'd also wager that retaining the PLA structure on the original flavor was no more than a way to allow them to save face.
Regarding paper alternatives, "back in the day" Saran-coated 'chocolate' glassine was the package of choice. Metallized BOPP brought better barrier, lower cost, marketing sizzle and, yes eventually recycleability. Whilst not compostable, the BOPP/Poly blend/metalized BOPP structure is recycled by many companies every day and is actually sought by many others.
It's interesting to read the
DJ...It's interesting to read the comments on this page. Firstly, and I'll get this out the way early - I don't think the bag was a disaster like some appear to think. I think it was a great idea and marketed in exactly the right way - yes it was a loud bag, and no, it can't be composted in home composting systems (for the most part), but it got people thinking, and talking, about Frito-Lay, their story and the materials that they employed.
With regards to the home composting issue - very little (if anything) which you see labelled as compostable is able to be composted in the home. That's not what the standards require and it's certainly not what a compostable stamp means. The criteria is to be broken down in commercial composting facilities and the bag met that standard. Now, is that the right specification? Should it say "only in commercial composting facilities, and where these facilities exist" as a disclaimer on every compostable package? Or should there be more composting facilities in the US? Or should plans be in place to increase the level of consumer awareness around this and other recycling/sustainability issues? All of these I would say are far wider and more pressing issues than a noisy bag from Frito Lay. Personally, I find it hard to criticise Frito Lay for the bags not breaking down in the home, when they weren't specifically designed to do so in the first place! Perhaps they should have emphasized that in their marketing, but that's another slant on the story.
As for the noise of the bag (and it's interesting nobody has mentioned the 'look' of the bag in the PLA material, which I think is a much bigger issue than the noise), I agree it's loud. Very loud really. But I picked up a package the other night and it said on there, quite clearly "this bag is loud for the good of our planet" (or words to that effect, anyway).
Furthermore, and this is my only issue with the original article, Sun Chips Canada have made this a badge of honour for the product. They have decided to keep the product on the shelves, they want to keep the packaging, are willing to presumably pour the chips into a bowl before eating while watching the TV and most importantly for those detractors - they are offering a free pair of ear plugs with every purchase! Genius! To quote, "Our bag is loud, our bag is different, our bag is good for the environment, and our bag will remain on store shelves." Check out www.facebook.com/sunchipscanada for more information - and no, I don't work for Frito Lay before you ask :D
Post new comment