Nature's Best Packaging

Once I was a judge in Chain Store Age’s packaging contest. I had no qualifications,
except I then worked for a retailer and they wanted a retailer’s point of view.


Worse yet, they made me head judge and I had to give a speech and make the
presentations.

Before we looked at all the entries, a few of us went through a practice judging, one
that you might want to try. It’s called “What is nature’s best package?”

Somewhere I once heard the egg given that distinction, probably by a chicken. For
you information, we did not judge the egg to nature’s best package. It came in third.
Our list included the apple skin, the orange peel, the pea pod, the peanut shell, the
banana peel and the corn husk. Each judge was allowed one disqualification for
personal reasons, and we quickly came to three finalists: the egg shell, the banana
peel and the peanut shell.

We then got scientific and used criteria. If you’re ever confused, resort to criteria.

Here are the ones we used:

Aesthetics. The egg won hands down. Gracefully smooth, and artist’s conception of
a beautiful shape. The banana isn’t bad, but the peanut shell failed miserably.

Product Protection and Durability. The peanut shell is nature’s tank, the clear
winner. The egg shell is durable if you don’t drop it. Few points for the banana.

Indicator of Freshness. An obvious winner for the banana peel. There should be no
surprises when you peel one open. On the other hand, you could find any degree of
maturity under the other two, including a young chicken.

Display Potential. Try stacking a dozen eggs. Peanuts and bananas are better. You
have to handle eggs like you are walking on eggs.

Alternative Uses. Egg shell can only be discarded after use. Peanut shells can be
used as land fill. Banana peels are best; keep one handy to throw down in front of
an attacker.

Ease of Opening. No contest. The banana peel is an inventor’s dream. The others
could hurt your thumb.

We rated each of the competitors on a ten-point scale for each criterion, added them
up, divided, and the winner was the banana peel, with a score of 47. The peanut
shell nosed out the egg shell for second place, 41 to 39.

We dwelt on the results for a while, before we had to go in and do it for real, and
decide what lessons we learned, what enduring, guiding principle we could find that
would sound us profound and fascinating.

Beyond the raw scores, why did the banana peel win? What intangibles did this
lowly butt of all jokes possess?

Here it is: the best package turned out to be the best extension of the product it
contained. It added appropriate value to the product.

How to make sense of it all? I look at the banana peel, and conclude that is very
like a good ad. It should grow out of the product, define it, extend it and add an
important dimension. And, like a banana peel, you don’t eat an ad. You handle it
carefully, at your own peril.