Vancouver grocer David Kwen thought he would embarrass customers into bringing cloth bags by putting their groceries into plastics bags with humiliating slogans. The bags shouted stuff like Wart Ointment Wholesale, Into the Weird Adult Video Emporium and The Colon Care Co-Op. Instead, demand for the bags soared, with one request coming in from Australia. Some people said they’d like to see the slogans on cloth grocery sacks. Kwen is philosophical about the bag boomerang: “The underlying thing is that it creates conversation and that’s what we actually wanted to get across to the general public,” he told NPR. Now, in an effort to meet customer demand while also being environmentally conscious, Kwen will print the slogans on canvas tote bags so shoppers can reuse them.
