It looks like there’s been another update to the SIGG story we posted a few weeks ago. We were reading Backpacker magazine earlier and noticed a SIGG ad featuring the founder of Patagonia holding a SIGG bottle. At the time we thought it was a bit unfortunate given the recent news, but didn’t think much more than that. Apparently the people over at Patagonia also noticed the ad and weren’t too happy.
According to Ecorazzi, Patagonia is officially severing all its ties with SIGG as of today due to the BPA issue with their bottles. Rick Ridgeway, the VP of environmental initiatives at Patagonia says:
“We did our homework on the topic of BPA, going all the way back to 2005 when this subject first emerged in discussions in scientific journals. We even arranged for one of the leading scientists on BPA research to come to our company to educate us on the issue. Once we concluded there was basis for concern, we immediately pulled all drinking bottles that contained BPA from our shelves and then searched for a BPA-free bottle. We very clearly asked SIGG if there was BPA in their bottles and their liners, and they clearly said there was not. After conducting such thorough due diligence, we are more than chagrined to see the ad that is appearing in Backpacker, but we also feel that with this explanation our customers will appreciate and understand our position.”
According to the Goat, the ad in question was pulled from Outside magazine, but not from Backpacker. Patagonia is offering a full refund to any customer that bought to co-branded bottles, even the ones made after August 2008 without any BPA. The company is returning all SIGG bottles from its shelves at Patagonia retail outlets and is looking for a new bottle manufacturer.
This is how you properly do damage control, unlike what the reaction from SIGG has been so far. You don’t make your customers pay to ship your harmful product back to you at their own expense for your mistake. You don’t mislead customers for over a year about your products. You fess up immediately, pull all the products that contain BPA, and you give refunds to anyone that bought them. Kudos to Patagonia for their response.
Patagonia has a press release on the subject available here.
- Via the Goat
