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A Dirty, Rotten Package Design Trick

By Rain Noe - November 15, 2017

in Packaging

I recently received this as a gift. It's a package of poop bags, which I go through a lot of as I have two dogs.

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The package appears to contain two layers of nine rolls.

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But when you open it up…

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…you see this inside.

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This cardboard spacer serves no function other than to make the package appear like it contains more than it does. Which seems silly since the precise amount of bags it contains are printed right on the top.

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Also wasteful is this riser, which is just a hollow paper box.

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As someone who previously worked in package design I understand that the riser is there to increase "shelf presence," i.e. the marketing team looked at competing packages and found that they were taller on the shelf, then ordered this up to compensate.

Package design trickery is nothing new, but if you've seen one that really bugs you, post a photo of it in the comments.

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Ben Zuckerman

7 years ago

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Here's mine - the ridiculousness of the UE BOOM packaging. Great product insane injection molded single use packaging.
*Disclaimer image from the web

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Jonathan Tenkely

7 years ago

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Filling it with pennies worth of cardboard may give it a deceptive appearance on-shelf, but I would assume that is secondary to the money saved from avoiding a custom sized zipper pack.

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- Andrew Bates
  
  Jonathan Tenkely
  
  7 years ago
  
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  Pretty sure that is correct. Another roll of bags would have been a better filler though. Maybe use the tube as a toy for the dogs?
  
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Maureen Carroll

7 years ago

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I'm disturbed that designers/companies seem to think that more and heavier packaging will make me think their product is better. They describe this waste as creating an "unboxing experience" - but the only experience I feel is dismay that they think I'm so gullible to believe that their product is better because they swaddled it in 30 ounces of plastic and cardboard , and regret/nausea at throwing it all away.

Case in point: this iPad packaging was so outrageously overdone I was compelled to put it on the scale - 29.6 ounces, nearly 2 POUNDS, for a product that prides itself on being lightweight. Or take the Sonos 5 packaging: unbelievably dense, with injection-molded latches on both sides - just to ensure it wouldn't be recycled by a typical cardboard recycler I guess; it needs to be disassembled first. Like that's going to happen.

But what adds insult to injury is that the Sonos 5 packaging won an IF Award! No people, a truly award winning package would be one that safely protects its contents without weighing 2 lbs. And don't give me that "the Sonos is heavy, it requires that for protection." No, you're wrong, it doesn't need injection molded latches, it is way over-designed, it's way too heavy, especially considering its reboxed in a shipping box anyway. I've bought giant Klipsch speakers and heavy Dell workstations that were packaged with less material. When is this overwrought packaging trend going to die?

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Fraser Pyke

7 years ago

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I can highly recommend these Beco Poop bags. They use a biodegradable plastic for the bag a recycled card core and very efficient (possibly recycled) packaging. Not to mention they are "bear sized" for when your dogs really unload.

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Pete Schirmer

7 years ago

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ha! from the image and headline I thought this article was going to be about the 'dazzle camouflage' hiding the barcode where store clerks couldn't find it...

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