Tupperware is in difficulties.  It has been well reported that the US company founded by Earl Tupper in 1942 has experienced a stock market collapse of confidence and a warning that there is doubt that the company can function as a going concern.

Unusually, it is not the product, which is at fault, but the business marketing model.  Typically, Tupperware has been sold through a party plan; the classic dynamic being a traditional housewife acting as host to a group of similarly-situated compatriots.  Unfortunately for Tupperware, the ‘traditional housewife’ is a dying breed.  But Tupperware the product remains as valid as ever.

I can scarcely imagine my life without Tupperware.  Even if it is not a product that I use every day, I know that it is something that I have readily available in my kitchen, which I can call upon for almost any domestic contingency.

Perhaps like Superdry, Tupperware suffers from its longevity: I have Tupperware, which I have inherited from my mother; in fact, it was one of the few things that I saved from her estate; the suburban plastic heirloom equivalent of the family silver.

But, I believe that Tupperware has a future.  It just requires a bit of creative marketing re-imagination.  No more parties for non-existent housewives.  Tupperware: get a bit more gender fluid.

Here is my plan.

Don’t wait for the party to come to you; take the Tupperware to where the party is already happening.  At the football and need something to hold your half-time pie?  There’s a Tupperware for that.  At a rave and need somewhere to hide your stash?  There’s a Tupperware for that.  In St Mark’s Square on Easter Sunday and need a container to protect your rosary beads?  There’s a Tupperware for that.  Kettled by the police after an Extinction Rebellion demonstration and desperate for a pee?  There’s a Tupperware for that.

So many possibilities; so many opportunities.

Tupperware is not short of contemporary relevance, but perhaps lacks creative imagination.

© Simon Turner-Tree

Conversely, Simon Turner-Tree is not short of creative imagination, but perhaps lacks contemporary relevance.