Tupperware Corporation

The Tupperware Corporation develops and sells Tupperware® branded products.

Tupperware

Tupperware developed by Earl Tupper (1907-1983) is a plastic container used in household often to contain food and keep it airtight. The burping seal is a famous aspect of Tupperware, which distinguished it from competitors. It was developed in 1945.

Tupperware pioneered the direct marketing strategy made famous by the Tupperware party. Brownie Wise (1913-1992), 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, cult of personality 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 II 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.

In 1958, Brownie Wise was fired by Earl Tupper due to general difference of opinion in the operation of the Tupperware business. It is believed that Tupper objected to the expenses incurred by the jubilee (and other similar) celebrations of Tupperware, and somewhat to Wise's style.

An original Tupperware party was organized by a Tupperware lady (so named due to the very high prevalence of women in Tupperware sales), who invited friends and acquantances into her home for the purpose of reviewing the product line. The distributors were organized in a pyramid fashion, with salespeople at the bottom, managers over them, and distributors at the top level.

Tupperware is still sold through Tupperware parties today, despite the patent for 'burpable plasticware' expiring in 1984. Although Brownie Wise was rejected by the company in 1958 and was in large part the reason for the Tupperware company's early success, Tupperware remains a strong brand name, and a sales force of men and women continue to sell the product in peoples' homes today.

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Categories: Industrial design