Bottle Tops is a device that snaps on to most 12- and 16-ounce aluminum cans and turns them into resealable containers. It purports to also keep

carbonation Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids. In inorganic ch ...

in the can, though that is disputed. The product is currently marketed by

Telebrands Telebrands is an American direct response marketing company, and the original creator of the "As Seen On TV" logo and category of trade. History The company's CEO A. J. Khubani started the company in 1983, creating print advertisements for h ...

, one of the leading direct-response marketing companies.

Background and "Snap Capp"

Originally named the Snap Capp, the product was invented in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the M ...

by David Gran and Carl Stufflet (a heating and air-conditioning service manager), who became frustrated over repeatedly spilling his beer during a Disc golf competition. While camping later that day, Mr. Stufflet took out a knife and cut off the top of his plastic

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

bottle and melted it onto his can with a lighter, thereby creating the first Snap Capp. The caps were one of the first PET plastics ( polyethylene terephthalate) to ever be

injection molded Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...

, and the first prototype was done by a company located out of

Hemet Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 census. The foundi ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

named Ramko Manufacturing. Because of the extreme heating and cooling in the process, the molds were made with

beryllium Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form m ...

inserts. The exclusive rights to market the caps were obtained by Allen Vallarta Wholesale, LLC in the summer of 2007, a company led by Bill Allen, a former

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

manager. Under Mr. Allen's directions, a handful of front line wholesalers such as Jeff Hammers, Steve Farrell, and Bill Banta took the product to thousands of stores, such as

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...

, and

Pilot Travel Centers Pilot Travel Centers LLC, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The compan ...

. In the fall of 2008, the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

purchased 150,000 "

Army Strong An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

" logoed caps for their recruiters to use as a

promotional tool In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, most of the time persuasive in nature. It helps marketers to create a distinctive pl ...

, which gave the new product serious validity as a strong new product line. By early 2009, Allen Vallarta Wholesale was one of 50 U.S. companies to be invited to a prestigious Department of Commerce Trade Winds Forum in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, which Mr. Allen attended with his attorney, Eric Kaufman, and met with senior representatives of several European countries.

Telebrands takeover

By the summer of 2009, Snap Capps were becoming so popular that

, arguably the largest "

as seen on TV As seen on TV is a generic nameplate for products advertised on television in the United States for direct-response mail-order through a toll-free telephone number. ''As Seen on TV'' advertisements, known as infomercials, are usually 30-minute sho ...

" company in America took notice. By this time, over 5 million units had already been sold in less than two years out. Over a series of meetings and negotiations, including a meeting at 3:30 in the morning in southern Oregon with Mr. Allen and Telebrands' VP of new products, Raj Shahani, an agreement was made for Telebrands to take over marketing of the product and they renamed it "Bottle Tops" thereafter.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Snap Capp official website

Telebrands official website
Bottles