Happy 50th Bubble Wrap!

Who knew that a mistaken attempt at developing wall paper would morph into a product that has 250 facebook pages and more than one million fans?  Bubble wrap is that rare product that is both highly functional and unadulterated fun.  How did the inventors discover the break through concept?  They were in their lab in New Jersey in search of a new type of textured wall paper when one of them, bored and frustrated no doubt, looked up at the pox-filled sky of fluffy clouds.  Eureka!  They had stumbled upon a superior cushioning material that would work better, they realized, as packaging than decoration.  They founded Sealed Air Corporation, a global Fortune 500 company with annual sales in excess of $4 billion

The company built its culture around that initial “mistake.”  Five core principles drive innovation 50 years later:

Invest – R&D is vital to keep the pipeline fresh
Listen – customers provide key insights for future products
Collaborate – the best ideas are generated from people working across disciplines
Be Borderless – ideas can be exported and adapted globally
Ideas Rule / Implementation Delivers – the best ideas need quality processes and a market

The last Monday of every January is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.  Who cares?  Millions of kids, moms and ADD entrepreneurs are passionate devotees.  People across the globe honor the high they get when they pop, stomp and twist their cares away.  You can reduce stress, play bubble wrap games and, of course, pop virtually.

At 50, is bubble wrap having a mid-life crisis?  No way!  Young inventors are crafting new applications to submit to the annual bubble wrap competition this very moment.  Bubble wrap is one bride’s notion of a low-cost, high impact wedding dress.  Having joined the world the same year as bubble wrap, I am inspired to step into another half century with all the crackle I can muster.