No doubt, there are many excellent, innovative package designs out there. Unfortunately, there is a lot of lousy packaging, too. And this year’s award for “Hardest-to-Open Package” goes to…

The pressure is on as getting packaging wrong or right now leads to shame or acclaim. It’s that time of the year when we all get an earful of “wrap rage” — the wry terminology given to hard-to-open packaging that stains the reputed track record of safe and innovative packaging design.

British researchers last year fanned the flame by blaming hard-to-open containers for more than 60,000 injuries.

It’s no wonder, then, that Consumer Reports shames those who make packaging frustratingly hard to open through its annual Oyster Awards, named after the tight-jawed mollusk. Earlier this year, as last, Consumer Reports heard from consumers about cut and bloodied fingers, hands and arms suffered in the quest to open packages.

“Consumers shared that they have used almost any implement at hand — pliers, kitchen shears, bolt cutters, military-issue can openers, hacksaws, files, teeth and fingernails — to get the job done,” according to a statement.

The Consumer Union (CU) advocates earlier this year decided that the distinction of “hardest-to-open package” should go to the designer who created the packaging for the Oral-B Sonic complete toothbrush kit. The CU tester had to use scissors and a box cutter. She “hacked, dislodged, yanked and popped perforations,” according to Consumer Reports. After finally dislodging all the components, “her work table was littered with sharp plastic shards.”

Bratz Sisterz was another hall-of-shamer. It seems a reincarnated Inquisitionist designed this package to punish little children for wanting dolls. According to CU, the dolls had 50 restraints, including:

• A cardboard and plastic box;
• A cardboard banner;
• Tape;
• Tabs;
• Plastic bags;
• Rubber bands;
• Hard-plastic bands;
• Molded plastic covers;

Take a moment to catch a breath…

• Glue;
• Wires;
• String sewing the hair to the cardboard;
• A plastic tab embedded in the heads and pinning them to the cardboard; and
• A rigid plastic manacle around the arms of one doll.

This sounds worse than some medieval torture techniques.

Dishonorable mention went to plastic-encased fluorescent light bulbs, a paperboard box of macaroni and cheese that collapsed easily, a toy warship with “hard-to-liberate pieces,” and a $15 joystick encased in clamshell.

Last year’s “winner” was a hard-plastic clamshell around Uniden’s digital cordless phone set. It took 9 minutes, 22 seconds to open the set, which has 14 pieces, with rivets between each. The phone package was the most dangerous because the edges were so sharp, though it wasn’t the longest to open. Second-place “winner” American Idol Barbie — which took 15 minutes, 10 seconds to get loose thanks to the twisting wires, snapping rubber bands, stripping tape, etc. — held that distinction.

Considering all this, plus the often-vitriolic media coverage on packaging this time of year, frankly, manufacturers and package designers too often get a bad wrap.

After all, federal safety laws do require seals that will show evidence of tampering, as well as child-safety caps on most over-the-counter remedies (which, unfortunately, often makes them adult-proof). Plus, products from abroad must be packed securely enough to withstand a long, bouncy voyage aboard a cargo ship.

Anyhow, Consumer Reports also turned to the publisher of Packaging World to specially call out the creations by designers who remember what it’s like to be consumers. Kudos went to those who designed such easy-to-open packaging as these:

• A clamshell packaging for a computer mouse (Logitech);
• A heavy-gauge plastic bag for croutons (Arnold);
• A disposable spoon with a peel-back foil lid for a cold-and-flu medicine (Zicam);
• A toothbrush package the user grabs at the ends and twists, releasing the brush (Oral-B … which got this one right); and
• A Polly Pockets toy without ties.

So there you have it. These designers — even Oral-B, which had a product in both the worst and best categories — show that it’s entirely possible to create user-friendly packaging.

Taking this further, some designers are succeeding in their efforts to produce sustainable packaging. Sustainability is a hot topic in the packaging industry right now, with much of the discussion revolving around materials and package design, driven by evolving consumer awareness and demand from brand owners and retailers.

Increasingly more designers and manufacturers advocate a cradle-to-cradle cycle. In packaging, this means three things, according to Cosmetic/Personal Care Packaging: that raw materials for packaging are harvested in sustainable ways, that packages are produced using sustainable energy, and that the packages can be recycled after use.

“The Dr. Weil for Origins Plantidote Collection features outer packaging inspired by this cradle-to-cradle philosophy and sets an example of sustainable packaging for the entire beauty industry.”

To help package designers make informed decisions, Kraft developed an Eco-Toolbox. “The toolbox and emphasis on sustainable packaging has helped Kraft to find optimum design scenarios, allowing for combinations of reducing the amount of material used, increasing recycled content, and/or minimizing environmental impact upon disposal,” according to PackWorld.com’s Sustainability newsletter earlier this year.

Feel free to weigh in with the best or worst packaging you’ve experienced.

Resources

The Oyster Awards
ConsumerReports.org, March 2007

2007 Oyster Awards: Consumer Reports Adds Inductees to their
Hard-to-Open Packaging Hall of Shame
Consumer Reports (via Chatham Journal Weekly), Feb. 24, 2007

Editor’s Choice Award Winner: Sustainable Packaging
Cosmetic/Personal Care Packaging, November/December 2007

A Global Perspective on Sustainable Packaging from Kraft Foods
by Steve Stirling
Sustainability (Packaging World newsletter), April 17, 2007

Lean Packaging
by Daphne Allen
Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News (via Medical Device Link), 2007