Lubricant packaging innovations may be few and far between, but Shell Oil Co. believes it has one for its Pennzoil brand: handles designed to ease the use of quart-sized bottles.
Developed for Pennzoil synthetic and synthetic blend products, the bottles with easy-grip handles were supposed to hit store shelves within the past few weeks. Pennzoil officials said the handles will make it more convenient for consumers to pick up five or six quarts at the store, and make it easier for them to add oil to vehicles with hard-to-reach receptacles.
Consumers recognize and appreciate the thought that went into this bottle design, Brand Director Tami Talbert said. We have broken out of the category norm. At the same time, she added, the company considered the requirements of retailers with precious shelf space. We kept the volume the same and managed the bottle dimensions so that the new packaging works within our customers operational systems.
Pennzoil officials said the easy-grip handle bottle was designed in house in a project that lasted one year. The new bottle is the same height and width as the old but deeper – 3.25 inches – meaning that a smaller number of containers can be loaded into the gravity feed side counters common inU.S. retail outlets.
The new bottles are manufactured from high density polyethylene (HDPE) and are fully recyclable. Pennzoil said it has no plans at this time to use the containers across the entire product line.