Box Vox

packaging as content

«
»

July 11, 2012

Coke Bottle Punt

2 Liter Coca-Cola bottle with 8 oz Coke-bottle-shaped punt

Following up on the week’s posts about figural “punts” and yesterday’s “petaloid” bases, I present my latest:

29 oz. Coke bottle with Coke-bottle-shaped punt
(2 liter bottle – 8 oz punt = 26 Fl. oz. / 769 mL)

If the 2-liter bottle was PET packaging’s “killer app” then why not make it a just little less deadly?

I had hoped that by subtracting the volume of the original coke bottle from its 2-liter descendant, I’d end up with a portion that would pass muster with Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed NYC ban on serving soda in containers larger than 16 oz. Sadly, my container still is about 10 ounces over the limit.

It could be managed, you know, if I just expanded my fluid-displacing punt to the size and shape of a 20 oz. bottle, but I think that would be going too far. Don’t you?

While there were many legitimate technical reasons for the development of bottles with punts, what is the consumer likely to think if we make the punt too deep? “False bottoms” are among the many deceptive packaging practices cited by the FDA and what is a “punt,” after all, if not a kind false bottom?

Sort of a devil’s bargain, I suppose… Reduce the calorie count of a 2-liter bottle of soda, only to be accused of deceptive packaging.

On the other hand, everyone loves the topological implications of a bottle within a bottle. From that standpoint my Coke bottle punt is a marketing marvel.

You could also extend the inner bottle’s neck, let it penetrate the outer bottle’s sidewall and connect both bottle openings. Then you would have a Coke/Kline Bottle. Something that ought to already exist, but I haven’t found one yet. (And if you have any doubts as to Coke bottle plasticity, consider this.

Note: In the 3D illustration above, I sort of wimped out on the “petaloid” base. I know how to revolve and extrude 3D objects in Adobe Illustrator, but the 5 petal base was beyond my reach. (Hence, the photo-illustration on right…)

See also: Nested Klein Bottles, Bottled Can(s) and Can Within a Can

Comments are closed.