On its soapbox, Procter & Gamble is again launching a new product. This one, Dawn(R) Direct Foam(TM), is described as the first dishwashing foam that absorbs up to 10 times the grease of most competitive products. Changing the rules of fighting grease, the product, released in August, aims to break grease into tiny particles and absorb and lock them into the foam. To dispense the liquid product as a foam, the container features a specialized pump dispenser with an ergonomically designed collar. The 13.5-oz clear polyethylene terephthalate bottle holds enough product to provide 250 "pumps of foam," according to the label. The foaming liquid formula is available in three scents: Fresh Rapids(TM), Citrus Kick(TM) and Lime Surge(TM).

Provided by Airspray Intl. (www.airspray.net), the one-touch pump helps create the bubbly, white foam. It's based on Airspray's water-resistant Table Top pump model and is fitted with an "engine" designed to handle surfactants. The well-researched Dawn product combines grease-cutting with long-lasting suds and the gentle, soothing properties appreciated by consumers.

The Airspray WaterGuard pump family is also suitable for applications such as handsoaps, baby washes, bath and shower washes, shampoos and conditioners and children's' products. P&G says that just a single pump of the bottle's dispenser will emit enough foam to clean an entire sinkload of dishes. The foam prevents the product from moving dish-to-dish and is advertised as using special solvents that lock the grease into the foam, similar to the way a vacuum cleaner absorbs dirt. In addition to the 13.5-oz bottle size, P&G will roll out a larger, refill size to supermarkets and mass-merchandise outlets.

Shrink labels dress up vinaigrette bottles

Bottles of Stallone's Raspberry and Balsamic Vinaigrette dressings are now vibrantly decorated with handsome, heat-shrinkable, polyvinyl chloride sleeve labels from Seal-It (www.sealitinc.com). The 12-oz bottles each feature a combination label that incorporates a tamper-evident seal with a horizontal, easy-open perforation. When the perforation is broken, the seal can be removed, while the label remains intact on the bottle. Gravure-printed in 10 colors, both the Balsamic and Raspberry vinaigrette labels are printed with a 360-deg image area and are roomy enough to incorporate beautiful illustrations of berries, grapes and scenes of Italian cities, as well as nutrition facts, ingredients, a UPC code and a brief history of Stallone's.

Radiant redesign for Olay

Procter & Gamble's Olay White Radiance skincare line marketed exclusively in China was specifically designed and developed for the Chinese consumer to provide a flawless, even-colored skin tone. With its White Radiance line contained in revamped packaging displayed at the international HBA (Health & Beauty America) Expo in New York City in October, Olay has been recognized for strategically using packaging design as a key differentiator from the competition. Design agency LPK (Libby Perszyk Kathman) (www.lpk.com) helped the Olay brand team in China create a new visual system to leverage the brand's equity and ensure relevant messaging there. The results received a design excellence award in the mass skincare category in the International Package Design Awards (IPDA) competition during the HBA show. Responding to cultural preferences for simplicity in design and color, the Olay brand identity in China features simple, clean lines using white, platinum and a pearlesent color scheme for the packaging and what is described as small volumes of color to signal product differentiation. Bottles, a pump dispenser and an outer folding carton for the White Radiance line also include the use of iridescent and pearlized printing inks that capitalize on a preference for refined yet quality esthetics, LPK notes. The design firm has a presence in China's Guangzhou province, so was able to collaborate with P&G quickly on the project.

Kids clean up with crayon-shaped bottle

"Clean" for kids now has a face—and a body—in the form of Binny & Smith's Crayola Tip character, molded into a squeezable, foam-forming bottle for children's hand and body soap. Introduced last summer by Crayola licensee Shroeder & Tremayne, St. Louis, MO, new Crayola Squeeze & Squirt Foaming Hand & Body Soap comes in two fruity fragrances, named after Crayola crayon colors—Jazzberry Jam and Atomic Tangerine—in a 6-oz bottle that uses the smiley-faced Tip cartoon character to appeal to the dirt-prone, three- to six-year-old crowd.

"Parents are always looking for strategies to make getting clean more enjoyable for their kids," says Carla Schaeffer, brand manager at Schroeder & Tremayne, "and we were looking for a new way to translate Crayola's brand equities of innovation, interactivity and fun to help ease the process. Berlin Packaging's Studio One Eleven [www.studio11design.com ] came up with several dozen concepts that included weaving the personality traits of the Tip character into an interactive package. "

The clear polyethylene terephthalate bottle, supplied by a proprietary vendor in China, is shaped like a crayon with a cylindrical body and tapered top, and incorporates tiny arms on the sides and feet at the base of the bottle. Bringing Tip to life is a full-body polyvinyl chloride label (also sourced from China) printed in six colors that uses graphics of a welcoming cartoon face, along with images of bubbles and the Crayola "serpentine, chevron and smile" design.

Best of all, the soap is easy for little hands to dispense, due to the its EcoSqueeze(TM) foamer cap from Emsar (www.emsargroup.com). The all-plastic cap dispenser, in a Crayola-brand yellow, allows children to produce a foamy soap by squeezing Tip's "belly," rather than by pumping the top.

Available in food, drug and other retail outlets, Crayola Squeeze & Squirt is priced from $1.97 to $2.99.

Avon celebrates lipservice with commemorative lipstick

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Avon Color line, Avon launches the 100 Commemorative Edition Lipstick in upscale, artful packaging provided by Crown Risdon (www.risdon-ams.com). Providing all of the primary lipstick case components, Crown Risdon molds both the cap and the barrel-shaped base in a gold-beige acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material, attractively finished in lacquered metallic gold, with an aluminum medallion debossed with Avon's special "100" logo on the crown of the cap. The cap is also anodized in bright gold. The base's one-piece sleeve and collar in bright gold aluminum are debossed with the Avon logo on the shoulder of the collar. The customized Beyond Color lipstick also includes Crown Risdon's patented ColorTouch® elevating mechanism, which provides a smooth swivel operation for every use. The components for the lipstick case were manufactured and assembled at Crown Risdon's facilities in Barrie, ON, Watertown, CT, and Reynosa, Mexico.

Dispensing cap has kids flipping for ketchup

Ketchup's biggest fans now have a package designed specifically to encourage their creative condiment use. New Heinz Silly Squirts(TM) ketchup from H.J. Heinz Co., Pittsburgh, gives kids a child-friendly bottle with a cool cap that has three flip-top dispensing nozzles, so they can "draw, double-double or splat" their ketchup on those hot dogs, burgers and French fries.

"New Heinz Silly Squirts helps moms achieve what they wish for most at mealtime: kids who want to eat what mom has prepared," says Wendy Beitsinger, senior brand manager for Heinz Ketchup. "Better yet, Heinz Silly Squirts' easy-to-squeeze bottle is perfectly sized for small hands to grip, giving kids a feeling of independence and a sense that they can do—and create—anything."

According to a national survey by Heinz and Impulse Research (www.impulse-research.com) of 1,500 moms with kids at home, 20 percent serve ketchup every day of the week; 57 percent serve the condiment three or more nights per week; and 65 percent say that there are some foods that their kids just won't eat without ketchup.

To fuel this tomato-ketchup frenzy, Heinz introduced kid-friendly Silly Squirts in September in grocery and superstores nationwide. While Heinz declines to provide information on packaging materials and suppliers, some of its innovations are obvious. Departing from both traditional and new, inverted-bottle-style ketchup packaging, Silly Squirts is packaged in a slim, cylindrical, 20-oz clear-plastic bottle created especially, says Heinz, to be easy for little hands to grasp and squeeze. While the lower half of the bottle includes ribbed panels, the upper half provides room for a wraparound label displaying graphics of a personified tomato character with a ketchup bottle in hand.

The CT white-plastic cap is molded with three different dispensing formats, each fitted with its own red flip-top. The "draw" option dispenses the ketchup in a thin line, allowing kids to create their favorite shapes and designs right on the food. "Double-double" dispenses two parallel lines of the condiment and "splat" results in a four-petal-flower design.

Silly Squirts 100-percent tomato ketchup is available for approximately $1.99 per bottle.

Sundae syrup gets singled out in convenient cups

The J.M. Smucker Co., Orrville, OH, is portioning out indulgence with its new Smucker's(R) Sundae Singles(TM) individually packaged servings of sundae toppings in Hot Fudge and Caramel varieties.

"We've taken the most popular toppings and packaged them in convenient, single-serve cups," says Maribeth Badertscher, communications manager for Smucker. "Whether served with ice cream or other snacks, consumers can enjoy Smucker's toppings with ease, anytime, anywhere."

Packed in 2-oz thermoformed portion cups from Winpak (www.winpak.com), the syrup can be heated in the microwave before being poured over a favorite dessert. A peelable film lidstock, printed with the product name, the variety and heating instructions, seals the cups.

The single-serve toppings—also recommended for use with fruit, pretzels and other snacks—are sold in four-packs in folding cartons supplied by Caraustar Industries (www.caraustar.com). Richly decorated with photography of creamy ice cream covered with the decadent sundae syrup, along with an illustration and copy calling out the cup's microwavability, the cartons incorporate two die-cut panels on either side, providing a view of the unique products inside.

Available nationwide in retail grocery stores in the sundae topping aisle, Smucker's Sundae Singles are priced from $1.99 to $2.29 for a four-pack carton.

Tailgaters toast to premium wine in single-serve PET

Imagine it's tailgating season. You reach into the cooler, grab a cold bottle, twist off the cap and take a refreshing drink of... Chardonnay? This seemingly unlikely scenario is now a reality as Stone Cellars by Beringer introduces the first premium wines to be offered nationally in unbreakable, single-serve polyethylene terephthalate bottles. At one-fourth the size of a traditional 750-mL bottle, the 187-mL PET bottles easily go where glass can't, including sporting events, the beach, picnics and campgrounds.

The launch of the new Stone Cellars package comes at a time when wine has replaced beer as Americans' number-one preferred alcoholic beverage, according to a recent Gallup poll. Stone Cellars recognizes the importance of creating consumer-friendly wines, and through its commitment to innovation, hopes to make wine even more approachable and convenient.

"To date, wine packaging hasn't really adapted to accommodate people's active lifestyles," says Tom Slone, the brand manager spearheading the project. "Our focus groups confirmed that people want the benefits of an innovative, shatterproof bottle and the portability of the single-serving size. Stone Cellars is responding to that need, and most importantly, the packaging doesn't compromise the award-winning taste of the wine. We were able to find an unbreakable, resealable bottle that is one-fifth the weight of glass, that is odorless and tasteless, and that maintains and delivers the quality of wine in an attractive package."

The PET bottle is produced at Field Manufacturing (www.fieldmfg.com), Torrance, CA. "We bought a Husky Model ISB125 machine from Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. [www.husky.ca] specifically to produce the Beringer bottle," says Field president Patrick Field. "Glass bottles have a knurled bottom, and Husky designed this into their molds, so our bottles have a similar bottom." The machine is a one-step system for the production of PET bottles that combines a preform-molding machine with a servo-driven blow-molding machine. The pressure-sensitive labels, which are supplied by Collotype (www.collotype.com), are produced from 2-mil, metallized biaxially oriented polypropylene. They are printed on a seven-color rotary offset printer. An unidentified European company supplies the caps.

The Stone Cellars single-serve bottles are available nationwide this fall in many major grocery, liquor and wine shops, as well as on-premise locations, and are already receiving rave reviews from retailers. "At Food Lion, we are constantly striving to offer innovative products and a better grocery store experience," says Natasha Brinegar, the assistant category manager for wine at Food Lion, a chain of more than 1,000 supermarkets in the Southeastern U.S. and winner of the Progressive Grocer 2004 Retailer of the year award. "Stone Cellars by Beringer has come out with a unique wine bottle and package that fits really well with the growing trend for quality products on-the-go."

Stone Cellars by Beringer is made from premium California grapes, and the unbreakable bottles are affordably priced at around $8 for the 4-pack and $14 for the 8-pack. Inspired by the wine cellars in Napa Valley, where Beringer Vineyards' winemaking began more than 125 years ago, Stone Cellars by Beringer offers four easy-drinking varietals—Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet and Merlot.

The bottles are being run at Meridian Vineyards winery, Paso Robles, CA, on a new packaging line installed specifically for this package. Beringer and Meridian are sister companies owned by Australia's Foster's Wine Estates.

Tesco's new package stars for skin cream

Tesco has launched the Skin Wisdom Age Delay line of innovative skin creams, exclusively created for the company by holistic therapy practitioner Bharti Vyas. The new creams are formulated to help defend skin against the first signs of aging. For the line's Revitalising Moisturizer, containing Vitamin C and SPF 12, Tesco required an effective dispenser that complements the product's high performance. So Tesco opted for the Magic Star dispensing system from RPC Bramlage-Wiko (www.rpc-wiko.de) for its ingenious functionality. The pump mechanism precisely controls each dose of moisturizer and delivers a hygienic application of cream or lotion. For the Magic Star line, the stylish 50-mL container, in a vibrant, clean, opaque white, decorated with a distinctive white and gold label, presents a compact shape and a large, transparent overcap.