I am writing to apologize.
As Chief Executive Officer of SIGG, a leading maker of reusable water bottles, I made a mistake when I decided not to announce that our old bottle liner contained trace amounts of bisphenol A. I learned about the liner's content in 2006, when there was debate in the scientific community about the effects of BPA. Scientists lined up on both sides of the issue: Some said BPA posed potential health risks, others said BPA was perfectly safe.
With the issue still very much undecided, SIGG decided to develop a BPA-free liner to eliminate consumer concern about our products. To be sure that BPA did not leach from our bottle liners, we commissioned independent scientific studies and asked the labs to rigorously test our bottles and bottles made by other companies. We urged them to put all bottles through tortuous conditions. Those tests reassured us because they showed SIGG liners leached no BPA. We posted those studies on our web site to provide consumers the information about product performance that seemed to me relevant at the time.
Today, the debate continues. Scientists are still split on the issue. But the consumer environment has changed. Because of the all the conflicting data, a growing number of people have decided to eliminate the concern from their lives by avoiding BPA. Given the situation, I recently decided that we had to tell everyone that bottles manufactured with our former liner (prior to August 2008) contained trace amounts of BPA.
We were right to make the announcement. But I was wrong to have waited this long. One of our primary goals at SIGG has been to help reduce unnecessary waste and to educate people on the environmental benefits of using a reusable bottle. With that objective in mind, SIGG has been labeled a "green" company.
Unfortunately, I am still learning to be a green CEO. When I took this position, I naively assumed that "green" meant being a steward of the environment. In 2007, SIGG became a member of 1% For The Planet and we have donated 1% of all of our sales to environmental organizations like The Sierra Club and Stop Global Warming. However, being a green company also means being held to the highest degree of corporate transparency.
Some executives learn this because they have grown up within the green movement. I have learned this by reading hundreds of emails from SIGG consumers. Some feel angry. Some feel betrayed. All feel disappointed because they were passionate advocates of our bottles.
People have written to explain why they are concerned about BPA. They have written about their personal stories, their intimate worries and their very honest anger. I have personally responded to hundreds of these notes, apologizing for my mistake, offering new bottles to make amends, realizing that my decision caused people real discomfort.
SIGG has been around for 100 years. Yet, we are still a small company with 127 employees worldwide -- about 90 of those working in our Frauenfeld Switzerland operation. SIGG is not a typical modern corporation and it doesn't have a typical relationship with its customers. People have trusted SIGG and my decision breached that trust. I wish I could turn back the clock and fully disclose the BPA content in our liners. What I can do is make sure that I personally never again compromise SIGG's good name and proud Swiss heritage.
In the next few days, we will announce the first steps in our path to full transparency. These will include some very specific things we will do to make sure we are the honest, green company that our customers expect us to be. We will:
When people buy "Swiss made" products, they are buying quality and peace of mind. I realize that my actions compromised SIGG's relationship with our loyal customers. I pledge to try to rebuild the hard-earned trust you have had in SIGG. I sincerely hope you will allow me to prove myself.
Adele Israel: No More Plastic Water Bottles
I attempted to estimate the number of plastic bottles of water sold in Grand Junction in one week. But discount giants and other corporations hold on to sales figures tighter than oil companies hang on to fracking formulas.
Sarah Newman: Sigg Says Sorry, Patagonia Dumps Sigg
The anti-BPA movement is spreading nationwide. Chicago has already banned the toxin and legislation is currently pending in California
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Here is an interesting and detailed take on the situation from a SIGG retailer:
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I used to buy Nalgenes, but after info on BPA came out, I bought four Siggs (which are NOT cheap) because the company assured its bottles did not contain BPA.
Now I found out that I wasted my $ and have probably been ingesting some BPA. Great. From now on I'm buying another brand.
MY MESSAGE TO YOU, STEVE WASIK: Keep up the good work. You have already proven to me that you're a much better CEO than any company could hope for. I applaud your honesty and also the continuing quality of your product. I will still purchase your bottles and recommend them to my friends.
So, from one CEO to another, good job!
Yes, Sigg made a BIG error in judgment, but they've come clean and are making efforts to correct their mistake and move forwrard. I just got my replacement Sigg and the water taste is even better than the old model. I'm still a Sigg fan all the way.
Your beautiful bottles with stainless steel or glass inside.
Why do they need the liner anyway?
While I totally understand being angry at how power is used and abused by those who hold power. I am concerned about the hostile response to the apology . It seems, to me, to echo the kind of hostility being shown towards Obama by Progressives. Trust and trustworthiness is so important in all relationships. Instead of using issues of trust to make people wrong, I would like to see if it would be just as useful (or more) to use our trust inspire people to live up to our expectations. This is how we raise healthy children, why not apply the same principle. Positive change is a process, it does not happen overnight. We need to remind people of who we look to them to be without being driven by the desire for instant gratification.
We do not know this CEO, lets get to know him and see if he is geniune and will live up to the standard of business practice that he admits he is still learning. Heck, in the 70's recyling branded me a weirdo--and now I am mainstream and being called to look for more and more ways to green my life. We are all growing. Lets give this guy a chance and see who he declares himself to be over time.
Lets give this guy a chance--and Obama, too.
A sincere apology with, as you say, an accompanying "ACT of contrition" goes so far. If I have hurt someone's feelings, I apologize and ask, "What can I do so that you can be complete with this?"
He has pledged more transparency and greater social responsibility than they already had. How many of us have thought we could waffle something a little and regretted it later. Unfortunately, SIGG did it in a very public forum with potential negative side effects, but certainly nothing like burying internal memos from the 1960s like the cigarette industry did.
A little yay! to everyone for helping effect a positive change and for sending a message to other companies out there. Green is the way to go ... if you want to pick on someone for irresponsible corporate practices may I suggest pretty much anyone in the oil industry?
Lisa
The oil industry is another subject and I address them by using only mass transit.
SIGG deserves to be pummeled. They defrauded their customers for many years.
Just because he apologizes means nothing.
Some people like you will buy into the lies and continue buying their products with their secret linings.
Not me. I care too much about my health and the health of my family; Never buy a SIGG bottle again.
Wasik, the debate was over a long time ago about the health effects of BPA.
You lost.
Boycott SIGG.
SIGG misled millions of people.
Solution: For carrying my water, I use Glass Jars. I re-use mason jars, marmalade jars, and pasta sauce jars. I have been using the same Newman's Own Glass Jar for 4 months and the water tastes great and it has not broken. And if it does break, I have a cupboard full of glass jars, ready to use.
Mr. Wasik's apology IS accepted..
Must be difficult for you to go through life being so unforgivin
And YES, i love using glass jars to carry my water. There was a time in america when coke bottles and all other beverages where sold in glass bottles. But you're obviously either too young or not equipped to remember.
Glass is much safer than plastic. But of course plastic is cheaper to produce and transport than glass; That's why everything is sold in plastic today.
So, YES, I carry my filtered water in re-usable mason jars, pasta sauce glass jars, orangina jars, etc. I would have thrown out these glass jars anyway, so I re-use them and they are perfect. It's been 4 months and i have not broken any glass yet.
Oh, and if you want to support a Fraud like Sigg, go ahead, that's your choice. I don't forgive businesses that mislead people. They do it not because they are naive, but because of greed.
But go ahead and have a nice supporting those type of companies. And enjoy their BPA laced products. Please drink as much contaminated water as you can. LOL
"As the President of Ford Motor Company, I really apologize for knowingly allowing defective cars to stay on the highway, for years, after data suggested that our faulty axels were causing serious accidents to drivers.
I'm a new CEO, having just come from Soviet Eastern Germany, where its okay to build dangerous merchandise. Now I'm learning how this American way of doing business works. I promise I will do better -- I've even created a commission to study car accidents, and if you want, you can send me your broken car for a replacement! Sorry, any effects on your health from the car accidents is, well... water under the bridge?
Anyway, super-duper sorry. Totally mean it. Please stop boycotting us and telling your friends and family that our products might be pretty dangerous, and that we can't be trusted b/c wanted to hide this from you, rather than risk a hick-up in our profits. My bad! Please start buying, before the Board gets pissed and fires me :)
I'll never buy a SIGG bottle again.
And I'm telling everyone to stay away from SIGG Bottles.
Now if we could just get it through everyone's head that heating food in plastic is bad, maybe we can have a positive effect on people's health. At work, I am the only person who heats food in glass.