SIGG and the Problems of Transparency
Let’s start from the beginning. In 2007-2008 when the BPA problem started to become clear, Sigg made water bottles that, apparently, had no BPA in them. Their bottles did not leach BPA into the water. The consumers believed that and they also believed there was no BPA period in a Sigg water bottle. Consumers bought Sigg and Sigg made millions. This went on for a year and a half.
Now, in August Sigg CEO, Steve Wasik, writes a letter explaining that the original liners did have BPA in them but, again, they did not leach into the water. Here’s that part of the letter.
Prior to its transition, SIGG utilized a water-based epoxy liner which contained a trace amount of BPA. The bottles were thoroughly and regularly tested in both the USA and Switzerland and all tests revealed absolutely no migration or leaching of BPA or any other substance from the protective inner liner.
Why did he do this?
The primary reason that I am writing this letter today is because I believe that the BPA conversation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Last year, the primary concern was that of BPA leaching from bottles. Since that time the dialogue has evolved such that now some people are concerned about the mere presence of BPA and some states are considering legislation.
So, two weeks later comes the next letter from Wasik.
After reading and responding to hundreds of emails and viewing nearly as many blog & Twitter posts, I realize that my first letter may have missed the mark. What I should have said simply and loudly to all of our loyal SIGG fans is: I am sorry that we did not make our communications on the original SIGG liner more clear from the very beginning.
In new media, consumers keep asking the same question…over and over again. “Why did Sigg wait, for two years, to tell us BPA was in the liners? Why didn”t you tell us right away? We feel lied to.” Of course, many believe that Sigg was selling millions of dollars worth of bottles and was taking advantage of the general impression that Siggs had no BPA in the liners.
And that is what consumers keep banging the drum about. How can we trust you again? You lied to us once. You’ll probably do it again.
Here’s where I take issue with these angry consumers. Okay, the company kept quiet while selling safe water bottles. The debate about BPA changed from leaching being the problem to the presence of BPA becoming an issue. It probably bothered the CEO, and he told the truth.
Yeah, he was late. But come on, give the guy a break. He came clean. There was never any BPA in the water. Never. And Sigg seems to be able to back that up with science.
And oh, you the consumer have never been misled? How about the banking mess where bankers lied to consumers telling them they could qualify for a 500k home? And consumers who accepted the loans knowing full well they couldn’t afford them? How about the derivative scandal on Wall Street where securities firms bundled mortgages and sold them as securities? And we bought that snake oil. It became so confused that nobody, and I mean nobody, could find the value in them.
And how about the Securities and Exchange Commission, who was the watchdog for Wall Street? It looked the other way while billions of dollars were being mismanaged.
And we, the American consumer have had to bail these fine American institutions out to the tune of a trillion dollars. And to this day, those same managers are making a lot more money than any of us.
And now almost ten percent of Americans are out of work. All of this deserves consumer anger.
So, now, I argue for perspective. Sigg caused no real health problem. It did apologize. Yes, I realize it could have been handled better. But, have you ever made a mistake? What did you do about it?
That’s right. You apologized, learned the lesson and moved on. It’s time for the consumers to move on about Sigg and cut the company a little slack. Believe me, the CEO and the entire company have learned a lesson.
You taught Sigg, and every other company that was watching, to get all of the truth out early.
Good for you. Now, let’s all move on.
We have bigger issues to solve.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Amen brother. Now, if only we can get enough of those little green pieces of paper together we can solve all our problems right?
September 17th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I’m not buying this. Sigg and Steve Wasik deserve the beating they’re taking.
While Nalgene and other plastic bottle manufacturers were getting scalded by the BPA issue, Sigg was raking in sales, knowing full well their bottles also placed BPA directly in contact with drinking water.
It’s naïve to give Sigg the benefit of the doubt regarding the “science” that shows no migration of BPA to water in their bottle, considering the company’s record of truth-telling. I’ve seen science showing no human risk to BPA exposure, but I don’t believe it. And the Exxon web site has quite a bit of “science” that suggests climate change is harmless.
The argument that we should cut Sigg some slack because everyone else lies, like the SEC and brokers selling falsely labeled securities is absurd. A lie is not made OK, simply because someone else told a bigger one.
Last and most importantly, Wasik didn’t “come clean”. His initial, awkward statement was forced when he was outed by a competitor. If not for that, does anyone doubt that his mouth would still be firmly shut?
Giving companies a free pass for duplicity, as advocated here, is a slippery slope. Yes, the world has bigger problems, but that fact doesn’t lessen what Sigg has done. Patagonia was smart to publicly walk away from these guys and the consumer backlash is well-earned.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Cinghiale,
You are starting with the assumption that Sigg “lied”. I can not make that assumption, because I don’t know that for a fact. I come at this problem from the standpoint that (they say) they have science backing up that water did not leach from their older liners. And no one seems to be challenging that.
In my view, still, the outcry was disproportionate to the core problem. That problem migrating from a leaching problem to anything having BPA in it.
Based on what I know, the CEO came clean. And I maintain that the negative response was over-the-top.
If he did know that BPA was leaching into the water, and kept quiet, then my blog would have been far less kind.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
you’re a shill for every corporation that deceives people. sigg is merely a symptom of a systemic problem. the people cannot take on aig. they can take on sigg, so we fight the battles we see fit. and sigg ABSOLUTELY lied about BPA. we contacted them asking SPECIFICALLY about BPA and were told in 2007 that NONE of their bottles contained BPA. NOTHING was said about leaching or anything else. we were FLAT OUT LIED TO.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Based on my reputation, I hardly think anyone would call me a shill for anything; however, you seem to have inside information. And how do you know that Sigg absolutely lied about BPA? You said “we contacted them”.
Who is we? I have said that Sigg made many mistakes. Too many. And that they handled the situation poorly. I have second hand information that the company lied to the public, but nothing confirmed. Perhaps you can help in this.