Laura says:
Have you ever had wrap rage - feelings of anger, frustration and violence over your inability to extract your kids’ new toys from their clamshell packaging?

My hubby and I certainly have! We’ve spent what seems like hours sawing through super-strength plastic bindings and laboriously untwisting dozens of wire ties.

Sometime after Christmas, we emerge from the depths of the packaging materials, bloodied yet triumphant.

Jim says:
Blood? That’s not hyperbole. I’ve stabbed myself with the ends of those wire ties more than once. Makes me grateful my boys are in their teens and these days Spiderman comes in an Xbox game instead of ultra-safe-politically-correct-no-one-will-get-hurt-but-the-parents clam shell packaging.

Laura says:
Like me, you might be celebrating Amazon’s new Frustration-Free Packaging.  Amazon works directly with manufacturers to box packages in plain brown wrappers right off the assembly lines. This not only reduces packaging waste, it significantly decreases the number of parents with box cutter injuries.

Jim says:
Now while I like the idea of cutting down on waste, no blood etc, I’m not ready to do the Texas Hold ‘em thing and go all in with the Amazon idea.

Why? The kids scuttling down Target’s aisles will be a lot more attracted to the package on the left than the one on the right. Not to mention attracting the attention of Mom and Dad, the people who control the coin of the realm.

So while it can work for Amazon, the brick-and-mortar boys will still have to do the Fort Knox security package. (Anyone know who came up with the tighter-than-Scotland-Yard packaging requirements in the first place?)

Laura says:
You make a good point, He. Amazon is NOT brick-and-mortar. When I buy Amazon, I already know what I want… perhaps I’ve even eyeballed the item in a store. So pretty packaging is secondary when I order online. I just want the product I ordered to arrive in a sturdy box, all in one piece.

Amazon’s new packaging method got me wondering:

• Just how important is it to watch your kid’s eyes light up as he rips the wrapping paper off his gift and glimpses his new toy through the see-through packaging?
• Will his eyes light up just as much if he has to go through the extra step of opening a nondescript cardboard box?
• And how does packaging impact product sales?

Jim says:
Hey, She. Next time I think we should talk about how we adults do “clam shell” packaging with our Web sites, blogs, etc.

Do you already have an idea what Laura and I will go with our next post on the subject? If yes, tell us where you see “clam shell packaging” on the Internet.