PepsiCo found its well-established brand, Frito-Lay’s empty bags discarded in parks and on roadside, publicly linked the company to waste, negatively impacting its brand’s image for consumers. Their R&D group developed an innovative packaging solution to market so that in April 2009, PepsiCo introduced 100 percent compostable bags for SunChips replacing plastic ones. Every 10.5 ounce bag was said to be fully biodegradable in 14 weeks time, after being placed in a hot, active compost bin or pile.

However, the trouble was that the unusual molecular structure of the new bag that made it more rigid and also made it extraordinarily loud when crumpled. PepsiCo thought the tradeoffs would be worth it, despite the fact that the noise was an issue for many consumers. A Facebook page called, “SORRY BUT I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THIS SUN CHIPS BAG” got more than 49,000 likes. [1] (Here, you can watch how loud SunChips’ compostable bags were.)

After a year and half, PepsiCo faced an overall 11 percent drop of SunChips sales [3] and they announced that it would transition back to the original packaging for five of its six flavors. The original, plain-flavored chips would still be sold in the eco-friendly wrappers. PepsiCo are now more focused on emphasizing the recycling for the packages.

Although the consumers could not stand the tradeoffs and eventually PepsiCo had to switch back to the original packaging, I would still give credit to PepsiCo for introducing Canada’s first 100 percent compostable bags. This is commendable because plastic bag pollution is a huge issue in oceans.

However, most of their marketing ads for SunChips 100 percent compostable bag lines were heavily focused only on its ability to fully compost that this also drew the consumers’ attention whether or not it was possible to compost in the 14-week time. The green impacts, which the 100 percent compostable bags could have on the environment and the difference it could result, was not at all well addressed. In fact, PepsiCo was not so successful in terms of delivering the sustainable marketing goals of change and at the same time changing what people do and the way they see the world.

References:

[1] http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/03/18/pepsis-biodegradable-backlash-snack-bag-was-too-noisy

[2] http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/frito-scraps-loud-sunchips-bag/story?id=11806952

[3] http://www.businessinsider.com/14-brands-that-had-to-reverse-their-horrible-attempts-at-rebranding-2012-3?op=1