Eating Tide Pods

With the wonderful Tide Pod challenge amidst our school system and teens, where is the finger pointed? In the video above, lawmakers are calling for the design to be changed. But why? They claim these pods are appetizing to kids and this is the problem. Is it this really the issue, or is it a political ruse to appease the public?

Let's take a look at these pods. Cot'n Wash, Inc. came out with the first liquid laundry pod in 2005. These were called Dropps. So these Dropps became popular as time went on and in 2012, Procter & Gamble relaunched liquid pods as, you guessed it, Tide Pods. Now, lets take a look at what is going on here.

First of all, on the container itself it says, "keep out of reach of children." So, in the case of small children getting ahold of these dangerous chemical filled pods, the parent's location of storage is to blame. Would you leave a container of bleach with the cap open in an accessible location to a toddler? Probably not. Again, not a good idea to leave any chemical components in the reach of children.

Onto today in the news and on YouTube. I give YouTube credit for taking a stand and removing these ridiculous challenge videos and removing any new ones that arise. But what is the issue at hand and why is it happening?

Thank you YouTube for discouraging this challenge! But what are lawmakers trying to accomplish? Lawmakers in New York want these Tide Pods to be "less appetizing."

A Political Ruse Maybe?

Ok, yes, the lawmakers in NY have a point with them being less appetizing to small children. But here's where it gets a little bit suspicious on their agenda. The beginning of this article talks about the beginning of laundry pods in 2005 and the warning labels they contain on them already. Today teenagers are doing this Tide Pod challenge and eating the pods. Not good at all for any reason! But what is changing the appearance going to do about this?

NOTHING. Teenagers are eating the pods as a challenge for social media and social acceptance. These lawmakers are asking for a change of product appearance now in 2018 for a product that has been available for 13 years. The political move is utterly disturbing if you think about it. The concern for small children eating these pods was never their concern until teenagers made a challenge of it and it became newsworthy.

Here's the sad truth. The whole law and appearance thing is not going to stop teens from eating Tide Pods. This seems like a political move to address a media-worthy story. Do they really care about the consumption of these pods? Probably not but they want you to think they do. Again, 13 years not a word, then teens are eating them and now a law needs to be made because of small children? I'm pretty sure I didn't see any toddlers eating these Tide Pods on YouTube.

In the end, NO ONE should be eating these pods. Parents, educate your teens on the damage it can do to them. Sway them from peer pressure and social media challenges. The finger shouldn't be pointed at the companies manufacturing these items. After all, nowhere on the package does it say "Tastes Great."