Tupperware is the name of a home products line that includes preparation, storage, containment, and serving products for the kitchen and home, which were first introduced to the public in 1946.
Tupperware develops, manufactures, and internationally distributes its products by as a wholly owned
subsidiaryA subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of its parent company Tupperware Brands Corporation and it is marketed by means of direct sales through an independent sales force of approximately 1.9 million consultants.
Company history
Tupperware was developed in 1946 by
Earl Silas TupperEarl Silas Tupper was the inventor of Tupperware, an airtight plastic container for storing food.-Biography:...
(1907–83) in
Leominster, MassachusettsLeominster is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 40,759 at the 2010 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and west of Boston. Both Route 2 and Route 12 pass through Leominster. Interstate 190,...
. He developed plastic containers used in households to contain food and keep it airtight. The formerly patented "burping seal" is a famous aspect of Tupperware, which distinguished it from competitors.
Tupperware pioneered the
direct marketingDirect marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
strategy made famous by the
Tupperware partyThe party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting what is presented as a social event at which products will be offered for sale. It is a form of direct selling...
.
Brownie WiseBrownie Wise was a pioneering American saleswoman largely responsible for the success of Tupperware through her development of the "party plan" system of marketing....
(1913–92), a former sales representative of Stanley Home Products, developed the strategy. During the early 1950s, Tupperware's sales and popularity exploded, thanks in large part to Wise's influence among women who sold Tupperware, and some of the famous "jubilees" celebrating the success of Tupperware ladies at lavish and outlandishly themed parties. Tupperware was known—at a time when women came back from working during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
only to be told to "go back to the kitchen" —as a method of empowering women, and giving them a toehold in the post-war business world. The tradition of Tupperware's "Jubilee" style events continues to this day, with rallies being held in major cities to recognize and reward top-selling and top-recruiting individuals, teams, and organizations.
In 1958, Earl Tupper fired Brownie Wise over general difference of opinion in the Tupperware business operation. It is believed that Tupper objected to the expenses incurred by the jubilee and other similar celebrations of Tupperware.
RexallRexall was a chain of North American drugstores, and the name of their store-branded products. The stores, having roots in the federation of United Drug Stores starting in 1902, licensed the Rexall brand name to as many as 12,000 drug stores across the United States from 1920 to 1977...
bought Tupperware in 1958. Tupperware spread to Europe in 1960 when Mila Pond hosted a Tupperware party in
WeybridgeWeybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and subsequently around the world. At the time, a strict dress code was required for Tupperware ladies, with skirts and tights worn at all times, and white gloves often accompanying the outfit. A technique called "carrot calling" helped promote the parties: representatives would travel door to door in a neighborhood and ask housewives to "run an experiment" in which
carrotThe carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
s would be placed in a Tupperware container and compared with "anything that you would ordinarily leave it in"; it would often result in the scheduling of a Tupperware party.
RexallRexall was a chain of North American drugstores, and the name of their store-branded products. The stores, having roots in the federation of United Drug Stores starting in 1902, licensed the Rexall brand name to as many as 12,000 drug stores across the United States from 1920 to 1977...
sold its namesake drugstores in 1977, and renamed itself Dart Industries. Dart merged with
KraftcoKraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
to form Dart & Kraft. The company demerged, with the former Dart assets named Premark International.
Tupperware BrandsTupperware Brands Corporation, formerly Tupperware Corporation, is a multinational direct sales company.The company was ranked equal # 2 in Fortune's Most Admired Home equipment and furnishings section.-Brands:...
was spun off from Premark in 1996; Premark was acquired by
Illinois Tool WorksIllinois Tool Works Inc. or ITW is a Fortune 200 company that produces engineered fasteners and components, equipment and consumable systems, and specialty products. It was founded in 1912 by Byron L...
three years later.
21st century
In 2003, Tupperware closed down operations in the UK, citing customer dissatisfaction with their direct sales model as an issue. There was limited distribution in the following years, but the company has announced a formal relaunch in the UK in 2011.
Tupperware is now sold in almost 100 countries, after peaking at more than a hundred after 1996.
Tupperware parties
Tupperware is still sold mostly through a
party planThe party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting what is presented as a social event at which products will be offered for sale. It is a form of direct selling...
, with rewards for hosts. A Tupperware party is run by a Tupperware consultant for a host who invites friends and neighbors into his or her home to see the product line. Tupperware hosts are rewarded with free products based on the level of sales made at their party. Parties also take place in workplaces, schools, and other community groups.
In most countries, Tupperware's sales force is organized in a tiered structure with consultants at the bottom, managers and star managers over them, and next various levels of directors, Legacy Executive Directors at the top level. In recent years, Tupperware has done away with distributorships in the U.S. This has allowed Tupperware more flexibility, and more generous commission and rewards for their consultants.
In recent years, Tupperware in North America has moved to a new business model which includes more emphasis on direct marketing channels and eliminated its dependency on authorized distributorships. This transition included such strategies as selling through Target stores in the US, and Superstores in Canada, with disappointing results. Tupperware states this hurt direct sales. In countries with a strong focus on marketing through parties (such as
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
/
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
), Tupperware's market share and profitability continue to decline.
In many countries, Tupperware products come with a lifetime guarantee. In India, there are some restrictions on the lifetime guarantee clause. In the UK/Ireland the guarantee is 10 years. The company is best known for its plastic bowls and storage containers, however in recent years has branched out into stainless steel cookware, fine cutlery, chef's knives and other kitchen gadgets. After experiencing a slump in sales and public image in the mid-1990s, the company created several new product lines to attract a younger market.
In some countries including Belgium, Australia, Ireland and the US, Tupperware market their parties and career opportunities through mall kiosks from time to time.
In China, Tupperware products are sold through franchised "entrepreneurial shopfronts", of which there were 1900 in 2005, due to laws enacted in 1998 aimed at pyramid selling. The Chinese characters 特百惠 are used as the brand name, and translate as "hundred benefit".
Cultural and historical impact
Tupperware created a means for the housewife to maintain her obligations in the domestic sphere of the household while creating an independence from the home in a sociable atmosphere. The Tupperware Party allowed for women of the 1950s to work and enjoy the benefits of earning an income without completely taking away the independence granted to women during the Second World War when women first began entering the labor market, all the while keeping their focus in the domestic domain. The "Party" model builds on characteristics generally developed by being a housewife (e.g. party planning, hosting a party, sociable relations with friends and neighbors) and created an alternative choice for women who either needed or wanted to work. The reciprocity that emerges at the “parties” which are traditionally composed of friends and family members of the hostess create a nurturing atmosphere without a direct sales feeling. Studies show that the creation of the “Tupperware party” is a gendered construct aimed at appeasing the general ethos of the domestic arrangements of the era where men were the sole earners and it was the women's responsibility to manage the housework. Earl Tupper invented the plastic for Tupperware in 1938, however the product only worked with the emergence of the sale through presentation in a party setting. This reflects in the empowerment it gave women in a setting of gossip and game playing the ability to sell and create a role for individuals outside of the domestic realm. It has been argued that the repercussions of the Tupperware boom in American households and the American economy are the elevation of the status of women in the labor market along with status within the home and facilitating their entrance into the labor market in further years.
Feminist views vary regarding the Tupperware format of sales through parties, and the social and economic role of women portrayed by the Tupperware model. Opposing views state that the intended gendered product and selling campaign further domesticates women, and keeps their predominant focus on homemaking. The positive feminist views consider that Tupperware provided work for women who were pregnant or otherwise not guaranteed their position at work due to the unequal gender laws in the workplace. The company promoted the betterment of women and the endless opportunities Tupperware offered to women; whereas, the negative view includes the restriction of women to the domestic sphere and limiting the real separation between running the household and a career. The emergence of Tupperware on the American market created a new kind of opportunity to an entirely underrepresented labor demographic; women, and especially suburban housewives, which subsequently facilitated the calls for equal rights between men and women in the workplace.
Product lines
Tupperware's product ranges are often marketed under different names in different markets, and the product ranges and colors themselves differ between markets. Tupperware's most popular lines include:
- Eleganzia (UK, DE), Illusions (AU): a "glasslike" range of serving dishes
- Wonderlier (US, Canada, UK): round storage bowl sets in bright colours
- FlatOut! (US), MiniMax (UK), Go Flex (AU): bowls that flatten for storage, and can be expanded when needed
- FridgeSmart (US, UK, AU), PrimaKlima (DE): with air control vents, FridgeSmart containers are modular containers intended for refrigerated fruits and vegetables. FridgeSmarts have air control vents intended to allow different levels of airflow around different types of fruits and vegetables, as well as a corrugated bottom to allow them to store securely on a refrigerator shelf.
- Stuffables (US, AU), Bungee: refrigerator storage with flexible lids for overfilling
- UltraPro (DE, AU, UK), UltraPlus : plastic casseroles advertised as being safe when used in a microwave or a conventional oven, with heat-resistant properties
External links