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7-Eleven Japan’s banana milk sparks controversy over deceptive packaging

Oona McGee Jan 12, 2021
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Customers feel duped by “camouflage packaging”.

With so many businesses struggling during the pandemic, Japanese convenience stores have recently been ramping up collaborations with local companies to create exclusive new products for customers.

7-Eleven has been particularly active, joining forces with sweets giant Tokyo Banana for an exclusive range of mini Pokémon cakes. Prior to that, they caused a stir by collaborating with Sonna Banana, a Tokyo-based banana milk chain known for using nothing but milk and bananas in their fresh beverages.

▼ The drinks, which rely solely on the fruit for sweetness, are so fresh they’re said to have a best-by date of 20 minutes.

＼南砂店3月毎日営業予定／
⏰12:00〜18:00

仕込みが間に合わない場合は予告なく閉店させていただきます🙏皆様のご理解ご協力のほど宜しくお願い致します。#sonnabanana #そんなバナナ #バナナジュース専門店 #バナナジュース #バナナ #お砂糖なし #超濃厚 #賞味期限20分 pic.twitter.com/i8GmN9m0gX

— sonna banana バナナジュース専門店 (@sonnabanana877) March 21, 2020

Banana milk drinks are steadily gaining a cult-like following in Tokyo, with many now favouring them instead of bubble teas. So it was a happy day for both 7-Eleven and Sonna Banana when they released a Banana Milk with a longer shelf life to allow more people to get in on the trend.

＼タピ活の次は…🍌#バナ活!?🍌／#セブンイレブン限定「sonna バナナミルク 190g」180円(税込194円)

ウワサのバナナジュース専門店とコラボ💛
口に広がるバナナ感に思わず『そんなバナナぁ～』と言いたくなるとかならないとか😃
飲んだら“バナ活”写真をアップしてね🍌https://t.co/HwlsrImCd6 pic.twitter.com/eTZOPXyQXj

— セブン‐イレブン・ジャパン (@711SEJ) June 23, 2020

▼ Sold exclusively at 7-Eleven stores, the drink immediately created a buzz on social media.

☀️😃おはようございます。
目覚めのいっぱいに、フレッシュなバナナミルクをオススメします。
　　そんなバナナ🍌
　　　そんなバナナ🍌
　　　　そんなバナナ🍌
　　　　　そんなバナナ🍌 pic.twitter.com/EM5KyLIUUQ

— セブンイレブン黒石野際店 (@711nogiwa) June 22, 2020

However, customers who purchased the drink began to discover something unusual about the new beverage. While it looked like they were getting their money’s worth with a generous serving of banana milk, it turns out that the cup, which appeared to be filled to the brim, actually wasn’t.

▼ This viral tweet from December alerted everyone to the news.

https://twitter.com/towamin/status/1343475348348932097

While the colour of the cup looks uniform on the shelf, it’s only until after you’ve consumed the drink that the true nature of the package design is revealed.

さっきセブンで飲み物買ったんだけど、なんか少ないなーと思ったら容器の上の方、液体と同じ色に塗ってある...えーそんな事ある？と思ったけどよく見たら商品名「sonnaバナナミルク」
損なバナナミルク...確かに！
はかりおったなドちくしょー！
ってなってる pic.twitter.com/ZLMO4ObSBM

— ただのお米@フラット (@kogamaruu) December 31, 2020

Only the top portion of the cup is caramel-coloured, matching the colour of the liquid inside, while the rest of the cup is clear. Conveniently, the coloured part of the cup covers the gap between the surface of the liquid and the lid, making it look like the cup contains more liquid than it does.

▼ Twitter users proved their cups weren’t full by turning them upside down before opening them.

噂のsonna(損な)バナナミルク買ってきた。味は美味いよ？美味いんだから変な策を練らずに容器小さくして出せばいいのに。どうしてセブン無駄な知恵を働かせるのか。#セブンイレブン #sonnaバナナ pic.twitter.com/G4KNWDplJ3

— ぶっタク (@takuya_zoom) December 28, 2020

▼ Roughly a third of the cup is empty.

セブンイレブンのドリンク、
sonnaバナナミルク
バナナ果汁の美味しさがたまらない。
あんまり量が入ってなく、パッケージの大きさとも合ってないような(笑)本当に美味しいだけに残念なり。 pic.twitter.com/8Wxy70q5hZ

— 緑一新 (@GreenShin) December 29, 2020

▼ The original Sonna Banana juice, however, is clearly filled all the way to the rim.

＼🛵 #Ubereats やってます♻️／配達員到着ギリギリでお作りしてます！

👁‍🗨八丁堀本店
混雑時休止中
トッピング❌(プレーンのみ)

👁‍🗨広尾店
比較的スムーズにご注文承ります！
トッピングOK⭕️#sonnabanana #そんなバナナ #バナナジュース専門店 #バナナジュース #バナナ #ウーバー #uber #デリバリー pic.twitter.com/ssTaPQFomC

— sonna banana バナナジュース専門店 (@sonnabanana877) February 23, 2020

While 7-Eleven has remained quiet on the issue, people on Twitter were quick to voice their concerns.

“There are many 7-Eleven drink packages like this. Sometimes they hide the top with a picture of fruit.”
“It’s camouflage packaging, concealing what’s inside.”
“Convenience stores continually pull stunts like this on customers.”
“This is blatantly deceptive. Someone should bring it up with the Consumer Affairs Agency.”

Some commenters recalled other instances of 7-Eleven products fooling the eye by appearing larger than they really are. In September last year, customers noticed some of the chain’s ready-to-eat meals were a lot shallower than the boxes they were served in.

セブンイレブンが一番こんなことするんですよ(´ཀ` ) pic.twitter.com/YNew62DTDO

— うるさくないトリ (@eZp4D7Oc579WFNR) October 12, 2020

▼ And in October, the chain came under fire for their controversial “Paper Tiger” sandwich, which was filled with empty promises.

セブンだけはこんな事しないと思ってたのに…… pic.twitter.com/Nm5E0MVvsQ

— kou（17） (@kou17) October 12, 2020

In the case of the “Paper Tiger” sandwich, 7-Eleven claimed there was an error in the cutting process, but there seems to be no mistake with the new banana milks and the cups they come in. And while a lot of companies have been known to downsize products to absorb costs and avoid price increases for customers, that argument doesn’t appear to hold up for the banana milk, due to it being a brand new product.

With 7-Eleven continually raising eyebrows with their dubious packaging, the convenience store will now need to be more transparent–both literally and figuratively–with what they’re offering customers in future to avoid losing business to Lawson and Family Mart, their two biggest competitors.

Because one thing we’ve learnt from our many konbini taste-test showdowns is that competition is fierce when it comes to convenience store food and beverages.

Source: Hachima Kiko
Top image ©SoraNews24
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