“There’s no way you can stay angry after popping a roll of Bubble Wrap!”
Massimo Rodriguez really sums up the spirit of Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. His sister shares his love for the noisy shipping material and gave him some for his birthday earlier this month.
“She knows how much fun it is when we both get a hold of it,” Rodriguez said. “After celebrating with my family we had the Bubble Wrap ‘afterparty.'”
CNN asked people to show us how they pop Bubble Wrap to mark the noisy holiday, which takes place on the last Monday in January. We heard from people all over the world — and a few of their pets.
Rodriguez wasn’t the only person to include Bubble Wrap in birthday activities.
Charlotte, North Carolina, mom Theresa Rosa bought 300 feet of the stuff for her daughter’s slumber party.
Rosa wrapped up her daughter, now 9, and her friends and let them careen into each other like sumo wrestlers. Then, they all jumped on the leftovers on the floor.
Module Adekunle, in Lagos, Nigeria, said it was a chance to show her daughter something she enjoyed as a child.
“It was really a bonding experience with my daughter bursting and popping the bubbles,” she said. “We laughed and giggled as each bubble got popped.”
It’s not clear what motivates Maxie.
The 11-year-old yellow Labrador grabbed a piece of bubble wrap out of a UPS box before Christmas and was hooked, Maxie’s owner, Dianne Jewel, said. Their other dog, a yellow Lab named Lizzie, has shown no interest.
Before we wrap up, here are a couple of things you might not have known about Bubble Wrap:
It was originally designed to be a plastic wallpaper. The product was not a success. That’s probably best, because people would totally pop your walls. Inventors Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding realized the lightweight, cushiony sheets would make a great shipping material to protect fragile items. Bubble Wrap is a brand name. Chavannes and Fielding founded the Sealed Air Corporation and have been selling Bubble Wrap inflated cushioning since 1960. The company caused a bit of a fuss last year when it announced a new type of Bubble Wrap that was lighter and easier to ship, but lacked the distinctive pop. Sealed Air was quick to reassure fans that they were not going to stop making the traditional, poppy favorite.
Here’s what you do know: Popping bubbles can be more fun than the package it comes with.
Irene Catellani got this bubble paper wrapped around a heavy camera lens she had shipped to her in Verona, Italy. She finds popping the bubbles cathartic: “With every bubble a bad thought goes away,” she said.
“Plus it brings back the happiness of childhood and simple pleasures like skipping stones, playing in the snow, things like that,” she said.
