Journal 3-7 Max Bardowell

Tupperware: Company or Cult?

Answer to Last Week’s Question: I could not find the exact origin of the term institutionalized prison. However, I believe it is simply a term that developed overtime as the symptoms of its manifestation developed as well. The effects prompted the label itself.

In Monday’s debate over the Tupperware documentary, the idea was presented that the Tupperware sales division could be considered a cult of sorts, evolving into an organization staffed by obsessive, devoted followers not by the company's choice, but by circumstance, or quite possibly in light of Tupperware’s overwhelming success, by providence. Their sales staff lived and breathed for the company, and this is what largely ensured that the Tupperware name would live on as the brand name for all things plastic within the kitchen.

The similarities that Tupperware sales shared with cult organizations are striking. The three most prevalent were the salespeople themselves, the rallies, and finally the iconic leader, Brownie Wise. The sales people were utterly devoted to selling Tupperware, not only due to their loyalty to the company, but also due to the great sense of personal pride that came with being a member of such a close-knit community. Once recruited, they would travel thousands of miles, relocating their entire families, just to secure a job with Tupperware, and once on staff they religiously attended the rally meetings, learning the Tupperware anthems and values in the process. The system closely mirrored that of an initiation. In the documentary, the former employees consistently and nostalgically pressed that their time spent at Tupperware was the greatest time of their life. Many broke down in tears.

The final and most clinching evidence comes in the form of Brownie Wise herself. Her persona, her methods, her close network of advisers, her followers, and her image, dripping with charisma and regality, all reeked of the single projection: cult leader. While this was seemingly unintentional, it did not go overlooked by Wise. The Tupperware sales group idolized her, and she used that for her own ends. While she helped the company more so than any other individual, she squandered her power and resources, another symptom of a cult leader. Still, she catapulted Tupperware to its past status, and kept it there for a great many years.

But is the cult methodology bad? Yes and no. It unifies and voices the company’s values more effectively than any other means, apparently even PR and HR gurus use cults as guides for their company’s image and department organization. However, they must beware of the many weaknesses of the cult organization, as they can bring down a company, just as they did with Tupperware.

Question: What ultimately brought about Brownie Wise’s removal from Tupperware?

Here is an old Tupperware infomercial. Notice their revolutionary advertising techniques.