Have you heard of the term Planned Obsolescence? I hadn't until recently. As the owner of a small business and someone who formulates products, this term really got me.
Planned Obsolescence: Involves intentionally designing products with a limited lifespan to encourage more frequent replacements. Manufacturers may do this to boost sales and generate recurring revenue.
Who does that? Apparently, many companies choose to operate with this as their motto. I don't get it and can only shake my head. Sargent Bubbles has never operated with Planned Obsolescence - and never will.
It's important to understand that this became a way of doing business as far back as the 1920s. The 1920s! From what I can tell, it began with light bulb companies. Rather than advertising how long their products lasted (surprisingly long), these sleazy companies got together and decided to limit the length of a light bulb's lifetime to bring customers back to purchase sooner.
Can you believe that?
I am astonished this is an acceptable business practice. I carefully consider ingredients when developing a new formulation, only adding good-for-you ingredients and things that will improve a recipe. I can't imagine leaving things out or adding things that would speed up the lifespan of one of our products. I actually want our customers to get the longest lifespan possible out of our products, but I have to balance that with using a skin-friendly, eco-friendly preservative. Sure, that means it takes a little longer to formulate recipes but isn't that my responsibility? Didn't I sign up for that when I got into this business? I sure thought it was.
This term has been weighing on my mind since I heard it. I wanted to take some time to promote transparency and let you all know that we will never participate in this kind of thievery. You get what you expect from the products sold by Sargent Bubbles, and you always will. We will never give false expiration dates nor make our products expire prematurely so that we can make an extra buck. You always get what you pay for with us. At Sargent Bubbles, we will never accept Planned Obsolescence.
And now that we have established that, please return to your regularly scheduled programming...
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