The new version of Bubble Wrap doesn’t pop

By Jason Hahn Updated July 4, 2015

Bubble Wrap Is Losing Its Pop

Bubble Wrap is great for protecting fragile items in shipped packages, insulating windows during the winter, and popping in your hands — that is, until now. Chronic Bubble Wrap poppers, lament: Sealed Air Corp. is updating its beloved packaging material so it’s more space efficient, and one of the outcomes of the revamped approach is that the bubbly material doesn’t pop.

The revamped Bubble Wrap, called iBubble Wrap, is shipped in flat plastic sheets that shippers can fill with air from a custom-made pump sold by Sealed Air for $5,500, according to The Wall Street Journal. A roll of iBubble Wrap takes up about 1/50 as much space as a roll of traditional Bubble Wrap, which is shipped pre-inflated.

iBubble Wrap comprises interconnected columns of bubbles, which prevents each bubble from popping. Currently, Bubble Wrap comprises standalone bubbles, which can be (delightfully) popped between your fingers.

While iBubble Wrap holds benefits for shippers, people who enjoy the experience of popping Bubble Wrap are feeling deflated. The Popping Bubble Wrap Facebook group, which has more than 502,000 members, has a stream of posts from sad fans reacting to this news.

Those addicted to the sweet sounds and sensations of popping Bubble Wrap will always have virtual ways to enjoy the experience.

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Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…

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