The world has seen much change between the 1960s and today. Lifestyle revolutions were evident in the changing food, fashion and music through the decades, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the familiar presence of the GLAD® brand in the cupboards and drawers of many kitchens in the country.
It’s hard to believe the familiar brand has been around for 50 years. The GLAD® trade mark was officially registered in New Zealand, in 1967. ‘The amazing new plastic GLAD® Wrap’ was an exciting new concept for protecting food and simplified the lives of busy households everywhere.
Awarded the Hoover Award for Marketing in 1967, the story of the product launch deserves its place in the history books of marketing lore. New Zealand’s Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr, hosted media, industry leaders and socialites at two events across the ditch where guests would be invited to try and differentiate between food prepared and wrapped in GLAD® Wrap three days before the event and food prepared that day. To keep the test honest, but also to create a sense of excitement and anticipation, the wrapped food was kept under armed guard – and stored in glass door refrigerators in the biggest street-front windows of Woolworth’s George Street and Pitt Street stores in Sydney and GJ Coles Bourke Street store in Melbourne. When the food was unwrapped, the guests were amazed to find that this new plastic wrapping had kept the food as fresh as it had been before it was wrapped. From that moment on, GLAD® has continued to develop innovative products that make the lives of its customers easier and has been a constant presence at memorable moments in all of our lives.
