Consumer Passion

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

In case you missed it, Monday was the 8th annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, as declared by the  product's maker, Sealed Air Corporation.  We've all used this fabulous stuff to protect other products when packing and shipping.  And of course we've all spent time popping the individual bubbles in a sheet of Bubble Wrap.  No explanation necessary.  From the press release:

Bubble Wrap brand has been a household name in America for nearly 50 years. Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding, the two engineers who invented Bubble Wrap in a garage in Hawthorne, New Jersey, founded Sealed Air in 1960. Bubble Wrap was originally intended to be a type of textured wallpaper. However, the inventors quickly realized that the product was in fact a superior cushioning material. Today, Bubble Wrap brand cushioning is manufactured all over the world.  Sealed Air has operations in 51 countries and offers a wide range of food and protective packaging solutions generating global sales in excess of $4 billion a year.

The main focus of festivities was the announcement of the Grand Prize winner of Sealed Air's second annual Bubble Wrap Competition for Young Inventors, co-sponsored by the National Museum of Education.  Competition basics:  students in grades 5 through 8 demonstrated creativity and ingenuity by creating an invention that incorporates the use of Bubble Wrap brand cushioning.   

Three finalists won a three-day trip to New York City.   The Grand Prize winner received a $10,000 savings bond.  Second and third place winners received $5000 and $3000 respectively in savings bonds.   The teacher/mentor of each finalist received a $500 gift card.

13 year old Hannah Haas of Charlotte, North Carolina takes Grand Prize honors for her 'Sensory Wallpaper' entry, designed to engage and stimulate children with autism through the combination of a textured bubble surface containing large and small bubbles, and a calming, blue wallpaper background.  13 year old Nicolette Mann of Christiansburg, VA takes second with her "Transformable Bubble Wrap Kite", and 11 year old Max Wallack of Natick, MA is the third place winner with his "Carpal Cushion" invention.  Check out their complete stories and pics at BubbleWrap.com's winners page.    

Birthday spotlight: LEGO

Fifty candles to blow out for LEGO Monday, with Google's minimalistic homepage offering a birthday 'Doodle' tribute to the beloved plastic building blocks.  Google uses 'Doodles' on its homepage to mark special days and what it considers original, innovative artists and thinking.  Google says it's 'Doodle' team (Team Doodle!) embraced the idea of a LEGO 'Doodle' because of the special role LEGO building has played in the search engine's 10-year history.

Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, used the iconic building bricks as the external low-cost and expandable casing for 10 4-GigaByte hard disks when they were busy developing their  search engine.  The original server casing still exists and is on display as part of an exhibition chronicling 80 years of computing machines at Stanford University.  Additionally, LEGO bricks can be found scattered around Google's many offices, to help stoke creative inspiration, and have reportedly been used in Google's college graduate recruiting exercises to test potential candidate's creative horsepower.  I can see the candidate faces now when the interviewer hands them a box of LEGO bricks, yells "build us something special!", and walks away.  Sure you have a 4.5 GPA.  But can you 'bring the brick'?

The LEGO Group traces its roots to Denmark, where in 1932, it began producing wooden toys.  It expanded to plastic in 1947, and a year later filed a patent for the now-famous interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks".  The Lego Group's motto is "Only the best is good enough", translated from the Danish phrase, Det bedste er ikke for godt.  Two products have been developed to commemorate the brick's anniversary: an open-ended LEGO set with a classic village theme including a gold 2x4 LEGO brick launches in August, and a one-of-a-kind Town Plan, featuring city hall, movie theater, gas station, car wash, two automobiles and eight mini-figures, including a letter from Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the company's owner, is now available on LEGOshop.com. 

Hasbro announces pre-sale of 'Cloverfield' monster figure

Hasbro is offering a highly detailed representation of one of the most tightly held secrets in recent Hollywood history: the “Cloverfield” Monster.  Following the January 18th theatrical release of Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot’s “Cloverfield,” (Cloverfieldmovie.com) fans will be able to order a 14 inch tall version of the beast online, beginning today, exclusively at Hasbrotoyshop.com.

“Hasbro is very excited to be working with Paramount and Bad Robot to bring to market a piece of the film for fans and collectors,” said Brian Goldner, COO of Hasbro. “The fan buzz on this film has been terrific and we are happy to take part in the excitement.”

The figure comes with two interchangeable heads, each depicting one of the Monster’s moods: calm or agitated. The head of the Statue of Liberty, the image which helped stoke lots of pre-release film buzz, is also included.  The “Cloverfield” Monster, available now for pre-sale, will set you back $99.99 (retail price).  I went online to see a picture, but none was available.  Hmmm.  Trying to keep things intriguing  for anyone who hasn't yet seen the flick.  This description from the press release will have to suffice:

... the fright inducing look of the creature lives on from the creepy people-sucking underbelly to the swath of parasites the beast lets loose to hunt citizens of the ‘Big Apple.’

Amazon Kindle Ebook Reader: Functions, Yes. Design, No.

Amazon will host a special news conference in the Big Apple Monday afternoon, part of a PR blitz to bullhorn it's breakthrough new ebook reader, the Kindle.  Newsweek has the cover story scoop.

Three cheer for Bezos and company, especially for the Kindle's killer app: internet connectivity.  The ability to download your favorite ebooks, via wireless or cellular, could enable Kindle to leapfrog its more attractive competitor, the Sony Reader.  But will Amazon obtain front runner status in the ebook arena?   Price is certainly an issue.  At $400 bucks a pop, the Kindle is not very Kind(to) the wallet.  That's quite an investment, on top of your $1800 laptop and $400 iPhone.  And speaking of the iPhone, I think a comparison is in order.  The 'homerun' products - iPod of course comes to mind - products that are the complete passion inducing package ... are rare. 

The iPhone is a triple, the ball boucing off the wall and not over it, because of slow web browsing for one thing.  Apple did so much right with the iPhone:  hugely successful PR buildup, gamechanging design, unique touchscreen interface, and long list of functions.  But Steve Jobs conceded to the Wall St Journal that he was disappointed in the web browsing speed of AT&T's Edge network.  So one could say the iPhone receives an A in design, but a B- in features. 

Conversely, the Amazon Kindle - and I'm basing this on the picture and description - receives a higher grade in function, say an A-, and a lower grade in design ... I'll be generous with a C- until I actually hold one in person.  The minus in the grade for function is due to price.  If the Kindle were, say $200, with wireless downloading, and if it sparked lots of ooohhs and aahhhs with its looks and portability, then Amazon would have a bonafied grand slam.

Here's a picture of the upcoming HP ebook reader, announced back in May.  Maybe HP is waiting for Amazon's launch, then it'll piggyback off the publicity, and possibly leapfrog the Kindle with its more elegant design.  This is the ebook reader I want, with wireless downloading ... and one more request:  a hinge in the middle, so it folds in half.  I love the dual page look, just like you're reading a real book, and turning the pages.  But it's a touch too big, and if it could fold in on itself, it would be more portable, more elegant, cool, and self protecting.  Oh, and HP, if you price it one hundred dollars less than the Amazon Kindle, then you'll have the Grand Slam, and ebook fans lining up to be Passionate Consumers of your wonderful new product.