A world without bubble wrap that you can pop to your heart's content? Tragic!
"Sealed Air Corp., the original seller of Bubble Wrap since 1960, is rolling out a revamped version of its signature product," The Wall Street Journal reported. "Dubbed iBubble Wrap, the new packaging is sold in flat plastic sheets that the shipper fills with air using a custom-made pump."
"The inflated bubbles look much like traditional Bubble Wrap, with one key difference: They don't burst when pressure is applied," it added.
This announcement has triggered a wave of protests among bubble wrap fans, with some wailing that this deprives kids of a simple joy in modern living.
"If this new silent bubble wrap becomes a thing, kids everywhere will be deprived forever. No more POP?" Twitter user @RedWhiteDanBlue complained.
The said move to replace the popping version was motivated by a need to save storage space. Also delivering such a bulky packaging can rack up more shipping costs.
"Traditional Bubble Wrap ships in giant, pre-inflated rolls, taking up precious room in delivery trucks and on customers' warehouse floors. One roll of the new iBubble Wrap uses roughly one-fiftieth as much space before it's inflated," WSJ noted.
"#sustainability in #supplychain logistics is really important. but creating #bubblewrap that doesn't pop is just one step too far!" countered another Twitter user, Bill Schleizer, managing director of Delta Institute.
Despite the emergence of new types of packaging materials, bubble packaging has remained one of the most favored options, especially in the e-commerce industry. However, the bubble wrap has seen a decrease in sales in the past years, with bubble wrap only making up 3.6% of Sealed Air's sales in 2012. It was 5.7% in 2010.
Meanwhile, the iBubble us hoped to boost sales and perhaps help the company curb costs as it is cheaper to make.
However, there is the issue of the cost of the pump, which is currently priced at $5,500. Sealed Air is hoping this figure will go down to $1,000 in two years.
Bubble wrap has since gained a pop culture status and even has its own appreciation day, which is set on January 25 next year. Recognizing the said packaging's popularity, Sealed Air has clarified that it will still continue to make the popping variety.
"Bubble Wrap was originally created in 1957 by the co-founders of Sealed Air who were looking for a new kind of wallpaper when they realised that their invention could be used for packaging," The Telegraph noted.
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