Bubble Wrap: No Pop and the Fun Stops - The UpStream

There comes a time in every person's life when they no longer get to enjoy one of their favorite past times. Sometimes it's because of life changing up circumstances, other times it's because of innovation. This one surely falls into the latter as the joy and amazing feeling of popping Bubble Wrap is going away, thanks to hands of those at the Sealed Air Corp.

Bubble Wrap, which is a name of a product and not a type of product mind you, has been sold by the Sealed Air Corp since 1960 as a way of cheaply and effectively protecting items during shipping. Since then, billions have basked in the glory of popping every air bubble on the strip of plastic sent in their boxes along with their product. For some, the product was just a bonus to getting to be able to pop another sheet of Bubble Wrap.

Now, the company is launching a new iteration of their famous packing supply. Sucking the fun out of our lives, the new product, called iBubble Wrap, will not pop when pressed on. Sealed Air Corp. is looking to benefit and target online businesses who not only use the stuff but also want to save money and space. iBubble Wrap takes up one fiftieth of the space of traditional Bubble Wrap and no longer comes pre-inflated in single bubbles.

Instead, the protective packing material will be inflated when it reaches the retailer, who will then place it into shipping boxes. iBubble Wrap has columns that are connected and distribute air where needed and as you inflate it. One truckload of the new product has the same amount of packing material as 47 trucks that would have shipped the original Bubble Wrap. I guess it makes sense when you look at it that way.

Still, it feels like my bubble of fun that lives within my heart is being ripped out only to not be popped, but stepped on. It now makes sense why babies cry when they enter this world.