Wares Of Tupper On The Upper
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday April 23, 2008
RAPPER Ice-T waved goodbye to his street cred when he spoke about Tupperware during an appearance on a US chat show last month.
"Tupperware is original, Tupperware is ghetto. Rich people don't know about Tupperware because they don't eat leftovers. Real people use Tupperware," Ice-T said.In response, Tupperware threw a party for the Law and Order star where all his "rap friends showed up . . . drinking champagne out of Tupperware glasses".Yes, that's right, the Tupperware party is still going strong.The first was held in the US 60 years ago, after Tupperware creator Earl Tupper met a woman who has since gone down in the company's history as a legendary saleswoman largely responsible for the success of the product.Brownie Wise's "party plan" approach to marketing led Tupper to invite her to join the company as vice-president in 1951 to build the direct-selling system known better as the Tupperware party.These days the Tupperware party is as famous as the product itself.Tupperware's statistics state that a party starts every 2.3 seconds in the world and every three minutes in Australia, proving that the daggy stigma attached to the at-home demonstration is disappearing.Tupperware spokesperson Merilla Colovic said the company was enjoying a revival in Australia thanks to "clever marketing and a range that keeps evolving in tune with modern lifestyles".One woman who recently took up a position as a Tupperware salesperson is Broadmeadow's Leanne Worley, who began demonstrating around the Newcastle area 12 months ago.It was a change of pace for the school teacher, who is spending a few years at home caring for her three children, all aged under four, including a set of twins."I was sitting here one day and I was thinking that I needed some adult interaction," Mrs Worley said."I was thinking, 'I've got to spend five years at home with the kids and then go back to teaching,' and I thought, 'Somewhere in between there I'm going to need some adult interaction,' because I was already going a bit stir crazy."Tupperware is the one thing I know that everybody's got and it interests everybody."Mrs Worley hosts an average of three parties a week in the Newcastle area.It is a social event not only for Mrs Worley but also for her customers, who usually end up with a couple of glasses of champagne under their belt by the end of the demonstration.She believes the appeal of getting together with friends plays a big part in the ongoing popularity of the Tupperware party."The way they're done today, we have strawberry champagne cocktail parties and things like that, so it actually makes something out of demonstrating."It's really social. People get together and have a good chat."The other appeal lies in the product."People just love the products. You get to parties and you're demonstrating and then people start going, 'Oh, I love this because it does this . . .,' and then they start telling all their friends about it anyway."Everybody knows that they can rely on it and it's going to be a good product, plus I think the lifetime guarantee is a huge thing for people."I had bought Tupperware in the past. When I first moved out of home, one of the first things I bought was one of the modular sets to put in my cupboard. People know that they can rely on it.""Tupperware is ghetto."
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
