In response to concerns regarding safety issues with Tide Pods, P&G altered its packaging more than once: First, to make it more difficult to open with a double lid design. This issue resulted in Tide itself partnering with football star Rob Gronkowski to issue a PSA in 2018: “What the heck is going on, people? Use Tide Pods for washing. Moreover, researchers found an increase of nearly 20% in reports of children putting detergent packets into their mouths, resulting in sometimes-fatal tragedies. In some cases, victims stopped breathing and required ventilation support.Īt the time of the challenge, the American Association of Poison Control Centers said 39 poison control center cases involved teens who intentionally exposed themselves, and that a further 10,570 reports of children aged five or younger were reported as being unintentionally exposed to the packets the previous year. In addition to jokes, memes and even restaurants developing Tide Pod-themed dishes, there were many poisonings as a result of the challenge, so many that YouTube and other social media sites began removing videos with the #TidePodChallenge hashtag.Īccording to experts, the ingestion of concentrated detergent can cause excessive vomiting, lethargy and gasping. In late 2017 and into the beginning of 2018, teens participated in the “ Tide Pod challenge,” which involved biting down on laundry detergent packets like Tide’s and other brands and either spitting out or consuming the contents. Whether Tide Pods were designed to look like food or not, its colorful and visually appealing design has attracted the human eye a little bit too well. He said this is why many nonedible items include scents of appetizing food or even in some cases closely resemble soft drinks in their packaging. “Their containers replicate elements of food package design such as possessing a shape close in style to drinking product containers or bearing labels that depict colorful fruits.”īasso said that by developing products that create links to food, play or other positive experiences, customers are less likely to automatically associate these items with an unpleasant or boring chore. “Food imitating products are chemical consumer items used frequently in the household for cleaning and personal hygiene,” reads the report, adding that bleach, soap and shampoo sometimes are designed to resemble food products. Frédéric Basso, a professor at The London School of Economics and Political Science who researched the subject in a study called “Assessing the role of shape and label in the misleading packaging of food imitating products.” Allen added that its bite-sized, processed and colorful shape combined with its non-threatening texture make it look like candy or other snack foods.ĬNN also spoke to Dr. “Tide Pods obviously remind people of foods, especially foods that have been made to appeal to children,” John Allen, an anthropologist at Indiana University and author of “The Omnivorous Mind: Our Evolving Relationship with Food,” told CNN. Procter & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald Lunch (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg via Getty Images) Still, as the report found, “a delectable blue, orange and white single packet of concentrated detergent” was seen by many to look like food, even sharing similar qualities as certain candy marketed to children, like the fruit snack Gushers, amongst other foods, resulting in the perception that accidents involving the pods were directly related to its design. Thousands of consumers were surveyed in the hopes of bringing a sense of excitement to what is often seen as a necessary chore. A complex engineering task, the concept involved years of research, more than 75 employees and 450 different packaging and product sketches. The design for Tide Pods was not born overnight, either. The object’s design also provided a solution to another issue of liquid detergents: By separating the cleaning solution into separate chambers, when its soluble plastic film dissolves in the wash, its detergent, stain remover and color protector are able to deliver the most impact, as mixing these ingredients in bottles can erode their cleaning power. Products Ahead Of Earnings Figures (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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