Improving on Perfection

When we teach Marketing in one of our business classes,
along with Product, Price, Promotion, Placement we
add a fifth "P": Packaging. And when introducing the topic we always
use the same example as the paragon of perfection in packaging – the
banana.

Think of it. Unique shape, vaguelly phallic but in
a colorful, kid-friendly sort of way. Bright, primary color, with built
in spotting to indicate its present point on the ripeness scale. Disposable,
100% biodegradable cover. So easy to open even a three-year-old can
handle it.

All in all, an iconic, timeless masterpiece of design,
an exmple to all us mere mortals that the original Grand Designer not
only knew what she was doing, but had a firm grasp of the value of
simplicity and elegance in the greatest designs. As well as a swell
sense of humor.

The banana was a perfect package, except for one thing
– squishability. Now, thanks to Paul Stemple and the Banana
Bunker,
squishability may be a thing of the past.  Check
out this essay in today’s Boston
Globe:

Riding the Red Line home from the airport recently,
I was tapped on the arm by a woman who turned out to be the bearer
of very bad news.

A downward glance confirmed it: my backpack was smeared with a gooey,
chunky, yellowish substance that, to my mortification, also coated
my pants, my shoes, the floor of the train, and the seat next to mine.
The muck, I realized, was the remnants of a banana I had tucked into
the side pocket of my backpack earlier that day. It had slipped through
a tear in the mesh and — during two flights, one layover, a shuttle
bus ride, and a subway trip — been smashed to oblivion.

essay from the Globe

homepage of the Banana Bunker