The Tidepod



2018 has just started, a year of new findings, new experiences and of course new trends. However, some trends are better off left in some other year – preferably not one anytime soon. Starting off as a meme, people are actually having the idea to put a laundry pod – more specifically Tide’s detergent product, in their mouths. Packaged in plastic and filled with all sorts of chemicals, people are actually taking over the internet by filming themselves (or others) biting into these Tidepods.



Tidepods started off appearing up on pizzas, cereal bowls, donuts and all sorts of common food. It’s probably become a big contender for meme of month as the joke behind it is the highly chances of finding one within consumption…up until now. Tweets and memes flood with all sorts of content about people hungry for them and YouTube has even begun taking down videos of people coughing, spitting out mouthfuls of these soap pressured packages.

Publicity

Famous American showman and circus owner back in the 19th century, Phineas T. Barnum once said that “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” while of course we are all aware of the opportunities and dangers of society regarding the ever-changing worldview on brands and businesses, the Tidepod has probably experienced this twofold. Looking into the brand awareness factor, Tide has probably never seen themselves in such a trending position. Sadly, it’s quite safe to say it’s not exactly the reason they’d hope for. Tide has probably never had a thought come through their mind that they would have to tell people not to eat their products. Chances of having a folder labelled “What to Do When People Make a Trend Out of Eating our Products” were probably very low. Despite being swarmed by memes and other gimmicks on social media; the brand has responded to people by emphasizing on the “don’t” in “please don’t eat TidePods”. They’ve reached out to several people to contact doctors and poison control. Heres a tweet Tide published with the help of New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski.

What Exactly is in a Tidepod?



– Fatty Acid Salts:

Otherwise known as soap, fatty acid salts are merely an element found in all sorts of cleaning products. By attaching its hydrocarbon chain on the stain found on clothing, it gives the water a way to wash it off.



– Denatonium benzoate:

It was reported that in 2015, Tidepods were added a bittering agent to the outside packaging to discourage children from tasting them. This white poweder is believed to be one of the most bitterest known substance. The Tidepod has also strengthened outer layers so that a child wouldn’t be able to easily squeeze it open.

– Disodium distyrylbiphenyl disulfonate

Besides the very difficult pronounciation, this substance takes in ultraviolet light and produces it in a visible range. It then makes a faint blue glow that reduces the yellowing of clothing to make them look whiter or brighter.

– Calcium formate

To prevent the process of enzymes consuming eachother over time when exposed to heat, this substance helps put the enzymes in place until the pack is used. When it is in the wash, the calcium formate puts itself away from the enzymes and making space for it to clean up the stains on clothes.

These are of course just four of the other substances that can be found on the inside of a Tidepod. A simple rule to follow that we’ve all seen or heard at one point, would be that “if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably something to consider before actually consuming it”. This Tidepod trend will probably not ware out anytime soon, but the fact will always remain that these aren’t made for consumption. Will people learn? a question that will be best answered by time. Once again, it has possibly been one of the most eventful starts to a year we can imagine. Sadly, while time continues to move us forward, we may have just hit a speed bump in a form of a trend along the way.

Roll on February…