For all of the jokes about kids and teenagers eating laundry detergent packets for the “Tide Pod Challenge,” nothing is funny about how devastating and deadly consuming detergent can be. It was a fad we hope isn’t about to make a return. And while we don’t know if Procter & Gamble is trolling us, or if they somehow failed to learn anything from the entire Tide Pod fiasco, their newest product absolutely looks like a box of wine.
hmmm looks familiar https://t.co/AsZpD7C1EG pic.twitter.com/ypmVaOtscZ
— Sallee Ann (@salleeannruibal) November 8, 2018
Twitter was quick to jump all over the obvious (seemingly to everyone except the company who makes it) look of Tide’s new Eco-Box, a “liquid laundry detergent designed for eCommerce.” Meant to be easily mailed to consumers “in a sealed, shipping-safe cardboard box,” it comes with a “sealed bag of ultra-compacted Tide” detergent, a more potent–and therefore more dangerous–detergent. Just like Tide Pods.
Even the description of how to use it sounds just like a box of wine:
To use, a perforated cardboard flap is peeled off to reveal a dosing cup and a new “no-drip†twist tap. To make dosing simpler on flat surfaces, the box includes a pull-out stand to raise the height of the box so the cup fits easily beneath the tap.
I’ll take one on the rocks https://t.co/gDXwzZAvLO
— Jacob Shamsian (@JayShams) November 12, 2018
Now in fairness to Procter & Gamble, detergent already comes in big, plastic bottles with spouts. Also the company’s motives seem to be sincere, both from a business sense and environmentally, as this product is ostensibly better for the environment.
The box of liquid @tide detergent contains 30% less H2O and is 4 lbs less than the regular 96-load jug and uses 60% less plastic. It’s good 4 the environment because it sends less packaging to landfills and it’s 33% lighter, consumes less fuel to ship. @ProcterGamble @Enquirer
— Alex Coolidge (@alexcoolidge) November 8, 2018
And yet….
I’ve never wanted to do anything as much as I want to fucking chug detergent out of this Franzia box https://t.co/LJiQre3Wep
— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) November 12, 2018
Place this on a table next to a bowl of Tide Pods and it starts to look like a wine and candy buffet line. https://t.co/gs0rlMTqnT
— Michael Brown (@mdavidbrown) November 12, 2018
Read the room, you know? We really don’t want to hear a story about someone ending up in the hospital because they got drunk and accidentally tried to polish off a Box-o-Tide. Can’t Tide come up with a way to make their products appealing instead of appetizing?
Do you think this is a good idea gone bad, or does this seem like a dirty way to capitalize on a past problem? Clean up our comments section with your thoughts.
Images: Procter & Gamble
