At work we have a number of snacks stocked in the kitchen and occasionally we have yogurt in the fridge. The other day I was eating from one of the Yoplait Yogurt cups and started scraping at the bottom to get the remainder of the yogurt. Some coworkers started giving me grief for the annoying scraping sounds and I defended myself saying how it’s really the design of the container that’s preventing me from getting what I want.
The tapered design of these yogurt containers has always bothered me, and there are a number of other factors adding to the already poor design…
- The bottom of the container is convex, making the yogurt-remains even less spoon-friendly.
- The container opening has a lip that doubles back inside the container, making the already small opening even smaller.
- Said lid also catches unnecessary amounts of yogurt under it’s edge, requiring flexible spoon techniques for getting it out (or sometimes licking).
- The container kills animals.
All of this on top of a measly 6oz of yogurt, whereas most other brands have cups of 8oz. I found a few other folk complaining about similar things, including two points at This Is Broken (a good usability-problem blog I’d forgotten about). His first complaint about the metallic seal tab has since been fixed. The containers I’ve seen all have tabs now.
But what about point #4!? Killing animals? In my browsing around regarding the container design, I discovered this. Have you ever read the side of a Yoplait container? There’s a message that says, “Protect Wildlife, Crush Before Disposal.” It’s because the Yoplait yogurt container is deadly to small wildlife. The tapered shape, and the lip at the opening allows small animals such as skunks or squirrels to get their head inside the container (to lick up the remains), but the tapered cup and edge would catch on the fur and prevent the animal from getting it’s head out. The animals would wander blindly and most likely suffocate soon after.
This design weblog points out that there are some fundamental problems with the idea that Yoplait is putting the responsibility on the consumer to be environmentally conscious. Indeed. Well, in 1998 Yoplait went as far as to redesign their container to prevent this from happening to animals. Of course their brand image with the “upside down” shape was too precious, so they merely tweaked the lip on the opening, so that it wasn’t as angled, and they added a ridge at the base of the container. This allows animals to grip their claws on the edge, to pull the container off their head if they get stuck.
Given all of these negatives about the design, I’ll concede one benefit of the tapered container: It’s harder to tip over. Putting a metal spoon in an empty, or mostly-finished normal container and placing it on a desk or table and it often tips over. On the other hand, the Yoplait tapered shape keeps it upright. I hardly think this is worth sacrificing a bunch of cute little skunks, squirrels and other critters.
Even putting the environmental issues aside, I just find it much harder to get yogurt out of these stupid tapered containers. How about you?
Comments
16 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.No way any skunk but a baby one could fit its head in there. I can barely fit a spoon into those things!
i don’t eat yogurt a whole lot, but when/if i buy it i intentionally don’t buy yoplait simply because of the cup design. just looking at it makes me angry. and you won’t like me when i’m angry….
jed… mad…..!!!
This has bothered me for a really long time. I certainly don’t buy it for the
container, as it is the most anoying of any container on the market. In this day
and age, you would think they could come up with something more user friendly.
The first several times I opened them the yogurt ended up squirting all over
the front of me. I have to open in the oposite direction and now it just gets
on my paper work. UGH!
This morning my husband noticed a skunk with a “cup” stuck to his head running around near our home. My husband pulled the container off of the skunk. It was a yoplait yogurt cup. I’m so angry that there is a product on the market that kills animals like that. I can’t believe that General Mills does not have to change the design! This is cruelty to animals!!
I have to agree completely. Though I love the taste of Yoplait, the container design leaves much to be desired. I hadn’t really thought much about the danger to animals until I read this blog. Thanks for the awareness.
Everytime I open a thing of Yoplait, yogurt squirts out!! It’s so annoying. I always have to open it in sink to avoid getting yogurt on my clothes. However, I must say that the only yogurt I have ever enjoyed is Yoplait Strawberry; I don’t eat any other yogurt because I don’t like the taste or texture.
Oh one more thing, I actually enjoy scraping yogurt out of the container. There is something oddly rewarding about getting little bits of yogurt onto the spoon. Almost like a reward
Lisa is a troll. If you look around on various you see many comments like these from people who supposedly have first-hand experience with Yoplait containers on skunks. Pictures, please. Multiple, sharp, clear pictures, in context, showing the removal of the cup and the face of the person removing it. Better yet, post a video on YouTube … if it really happened. These comments are fake and part of a campaign against General Mills.
no, you’re just one of those annoying coworkers that has to scrapescrapescrape your yogurt cup to get every fucking drop you can.
dude i google searched Yoplait yogurt is bad.
cus of the same reasons..
ye i hate the little ass container.
shit i eat the whole six pack at once.
they should make a king soze on like 10 little ones in 1 u feel me..
haha.
na for reals.
on the reals about
killing animals i doubt it foo.
cus i put one in my fish tank.
n my little goldfish made it its crib.
n he sleeps in there.
so yea.
just the size of the yougurt sucks.
the taste is good.
oh n its true wen i open it like if it has pressure yougurts comes out.
n that sucks too.
n u have to lick the lid cus there always yogurt on it.
bahahaha
but thats old skool ive done it since i was a lil kid.
so yea.
keep on munching it.
guys this might be true but the design of the container prevents it from falling after u finish the youghurt when the spoon is still inside..
Hmm, Barney, check out my photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/marilynphotos/2636801620/
It is not only NOT fake (don’t let the double negatives trip you up), I still smell faintly of eau-de-gratitude. NOT a baby skunk either. Skunks have small heads and these containers are deadly to them.
And no I am not anti-General Mills. I eat Cheerios every single day for breakfast.
P.S. Barney, there are YouTube videos of skunks with Yoplait cups.
You people are Ka-Razy ~@_@~
I bought a few containers of Yoplait when they were on sale the other week (cheap enough for me to get over the whole stupid container thing). I saw the ‘crush cap’ warning and gave it a go… well, I’ll be damned if the bottom didn’t shoot off, spraying me with a fine mist of the yogurt I had fought so valiantly to get out, and then the container sprang right back to shape! I crushed it again, but with the reinforcing ridges on the top and bottom I couldn’t get the container to stay crushed. Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but its not like General Mills included an instruction manual of the proper crushing technique.
I suppose by popping the bottom off I gave the skunk a 50/50 chance of sticking his head in the big end, but…
Yep, I agree…stupidest design ever. There is one trick to keep it from squirting though when you open it; just puncture the lid slightly with the end of your spoon, then open it. Takes the pressure out. It’d be nice if these containers were consistent in having pull tabs, but not all do, that’s very frustrating! Again, stupid design.
tial, dude… nice