Unwrapping Plastic Packages

There's nothing better at Christmas than unwrapping those presents. Unless of course, the manufacturer has gone overboard with the packaging. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says would you

Tuesday, December 26th 2006, 10:06 am

By: News On 6

There's nothing better at Christmas than unwrapping those presents. Unless of course, the manufacturer has gone overboard with the packaging.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says would you believe there are some cases where people have injured themselves, usually with a knife or tool they use to open the package.

The News on 6 talked to people about how tough it is to unseal the deal. Janet Polin got perfume for Christmas, but the packaging stunk. "It was two pieces welded together, and I had to basically sit there and knife it with a pair of scissors to get it open. It was very frustrating."

Those pieces welded together are notorious to consumers. But do you know what it's called? The industry term is â€˜clamshellâ€™ packaging. You see it a lot with electronics, because it discourages shoplifting and because it gives delicate stuff protection, but who protects you. When opening it up, you might open yourself up. "I can see cutting yourself on the plastic when you're trying to get through to it."

It does happen, fortunately not to Janet. "I've come close."

And then there's that other drastic plastic. The shrink-wrapping. We timed shopper Amber VanMeter as she tried to open a video game. So is she frustrated by this kind of packaging? "I just usually give it to my husband." Janet Polin: "I can understand some things that are bottles, like medicine, but a perfume bottle, why do they have to make it so hard to get to."

According to some reports, injuries from trying to open the â€˜clamshellâ€™ packages are on the rise. Doctors around the country say they occasionally see something as bad as a severed fingers or a cut tendons.

They have electrically powered scissors at Target, but they're sold out. Coincidence? Probably not.