Juicero Juicer Controversy

Submission 26,374

Overview

Juicero Juicer Controversy refers to an online backlash toward to Juicero company after Bloomberg News revealed that the juice from the company's packs could be squeezed out by hand just as effectively as the company's expensive Juicero Press device.

Background

In 2014, Juicero received $120 million in startup venture capital. In March 2016, they released the Juicero Press, a Wi-Fi connected juicing device that presses single-serving packets containing chopped fruits and vegetables sold by the company. While initially sold for $699, the price was reduced to $399 in January 2017. On April 19th, 2017, Bloomberg News^[1] published an article titled "Silicon Valley’s $400 Juicer May Be Feeling the Squeeze," which revealed that Juicero's juice packets could be squeezed by hand just as effectively as their $399 press machines. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Do You Need a $400 Juicer?", demonstrating that the press machine was unnecessary to extra juice from the Juicero packets (shown below). Within 24 hours, the video gained over 1.1 million views and 920 comments.

Developments

Online Reaction

That day, the Bloomberg article was submitted by Redditor pynzrz to /r/technology.^[2] Meanwhile, Redditor keeferc posted Bloomberg's video to /r/videos.^[4] within 48 hours, the posts received more than 2,000 points (94% upvoted) and 19,100 points (91% upvoted) within 48 hours. Also on April 19th, Twitter user @darth^[7] posted a photoshopped screenshot from the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad superimposed with a Juicero juice pack (shown below, left). Additionally, many began comparing the Juicero Press to the Juice Loosener device featured in The Simpsons episode "Marge in Chains" (shown below, right).^[8]^[9]

On April 20th, Twitter published a Moments^[5] page featuring tweets related to the controversy. On April 21st, Redditor imx3110 submitted a post titled "What is the deal with Juicero controversy" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,^[6] to which Redditor SegoliaFlak provided a brief explanation of the backlash.

"Everyone's kind of scratching their heads over it now since there seems to be no point to it – it's more expensive than a normal juicer, the sachets have a very short shelf-life, are only sold to people who own a machine, are limited to the flavours that juicero makes and are just as expensive as going to a store and buying cold-press juice."

Juicero's Response

On April 20th, Juicero's head of communcations Chrissy Trampedach posted a video on Vimeo in which a Juicero packet is cut open with a pair of scissors to reveal an orange mulch inside the bag (shown below). Meanwhile, Juicero CEO Jeff Dunn published a blog post on Medium,^[3] in which he argues against hand-squeezing the company's juice packs, claiming the result will be "mediocre (and maybe very messy)." Additionally, Dunn offered a chance for owners of the machine to receive a full refund if they return the device within 30 days.