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'Hello, I'm A Paper Bottle' Turns Out To Have a Plastic Surprise Inside

by Rudy Sanchez on 04/12/2021 | 1 Minute Read

Label shenanigans and greenwashing antics are nothing new. But cosmetics brand Innisfree may have just been caught red-handed, elevating both to a new level after a customer discovered the brand’s “paper bottle” is a plastic imposter. Maybe.

A consumer discovered that a bottle of Green Tea Seed Serum by Innisfree looks like a bottle made out of fiber and sports a green label dominated by copy reading, “Hello, I’m Paper Bottle.” Except it’s actually a plastic bottle hidden inside the paper fiber. Posting to a plastic-free Facebook group titled “No Plastic Shopping,” a disappointed consumer posted a picture of the “paper bottle” cut in half, according to the Korea Herald. The outlet further reported that the customer expressed “betrayal” in the social media post, and they filed an official complaint about the misleading “greenwashing” label.

Editorial photograph

Innisfree responded by acknowledging that they “overlooked” how consumers could be lead to think the entire packaging was made of paper and apologized “for failing to deliver information in a precise way.”

The firm went on to explain that the bottle uses 51.8 percent less plastic than conventional packaging and includes instructions on how to separate and recycle the bottle.

Anywho, great try. We totally understand, as “Hello, I’m a 51.8% Less Plastic Bottle” doesn’t quite have the same ring.