Wrap rage, unwrapping packaging can be a fine art!

CELLOPHANE

A BLISTER PACK

Several of my clients sell or distribute physical products which imply that they are, in general, packaged goods. Although vocabulary related to the good themselves is one of the first things they tend to ask me about sometimes we overlook the packaging itself. Here is a very interesting reading activity about packaging:-



Surveys show that intense frustration and even injury caused by packaging is on the increase, especially amongst the elderly. Seventy per cent of over 50s admit to suffering cuts, sprains and bruises to fingers, hands and shoulders as a result of 'wrap rage', a new term used to describe the irritation and loss of self-control experienced when struggling to open wrapping.

In recent years manufacturers have been under increasing pressure to keep food items sterile, to provide child-proof packaging for dangerous or toxic household cleaning products, to protect products during transport and to reduce in-shop shrinkage due to pilfering. At the same time, they are forced to keep costs to a minimum. As a result packaging has become ever more resistant to fingers, nails and even teeth. In their frustration with blister packs and welded plastic, which defeat all attempts to be pulled, torn or even cut open with scissors, consumers resort to stabbing it with screwdrivers, twisting it with pliers or slashing it with knives. At best, the product inside the packaging is at risk; at worst, it is hardly surprising that 60,000 people a year are injured in Great Britain alone.

Some of the most common triggers of wrap rage are processed cheese packages, tightly wrapped CDs, child-proof tops on medicine bottles, and milk and juice cartons. Ring pull cans are particularly problematic for arthritic fingers and delicate skin. Even wrestling to remove price tags from items bought as gifts can raise blood pressure, and unnecessary overpackaging is a red rag to the ecologically-minded bull.

However it seems there's light at the end of the tunnel. Manufacturers are listening to customers' complaints, and some have begun to research and invest in more consumer friendly packaging. The bottom line is that if they don't react, they risk losing sales if customers simply stop buying products with packaging that offers too much resistance.

BUBBLE WRAP

Here are some activities regarding the text:-

A) Read the text and answer the questions:-

1. What is wrap rage?
2. Who suffers from it?
3. What triggers it?
4. What are the underlying causes?

B) Reformulate these phrases from the article in your own words.

1. to reduce in-shop shrinkage due to pilfering
2. the most common triggers of wrap rage
3. even wrestling to remove price tags.... can raise blood pressure
4. a red rag to the ecologically-minded bull 
5. there's a light at the end of the of the tunnel 
6. The bottom line is that if they don't react, they risk losing sales

C) Now it's up to you:-

1. What sort of packaging do the products at your company come in? OR What sort of packaging do the products you buy come in?

2. Is this packaging easy to open?