Nurdle (pronounced nhur-dl)
(1) In cricket, to
work the ball away gently, especially to the leg side, gently nudging the
delivery into vacant spaces on the field; such a shot played.
(2) In conversation,
gently to waffle or muse on a subject about which once obviously knows little.
(3) In manufacturing,
a pre-production micro-plastic pellet about the size of a pea, the raw material
used in the manufacture of plastic products.
(4) In marine ecology
as plastic resin pellet pollution (PRPP); marine debris.
(5) The depiction of a
wave-shaped blob of toothpaste sitting on a toothbrush.
(6) That which is squeezed from tube to toothbrush.
(7) In the game of tiddlywinks (as nurdling), sending an opponent's wink too close to the pot to score easily.
Circa 1968: In the
context of cricket, it’s of unknown origin but presumably some sort of blend,
influenced possibly by “nerd” & “nudge”, the meaning conveyed being a style
of play that is cautious, unambitious and unexciting; the slow accumulation of
a score; there’s been the suggestion of a link with “noodle” but it’s hard to
see the connection and there's no documentary evidence. The earliest known
citation is a 1985 match report in The Times (London). The small, cylindrical pellets, the raw
material of the manufacturing processes of many plastic products, have
been called nurdles since at least the 1970s, a reference from that time noted
in the manuals supplied with an injection-molding machine. The word is likely to have been coined either
because of the physical similarity of the pellets to some types of noodle or as
a variation of nodule (a small node or knot) and plastic nurdles have for decades been recdorded as a significant proportion of marine pollution. As used to describe the toothbrush-length
squirt of toothpaste as it sits atop the bristles, the origin is murky but may
be linked to nodule. There have been
suggestions the use by the American Dental Association in the 1990s in a
public-service advertising campaign about the correct technique for brushing
may have been the coining but the word was used in toothpaste advertising as
early as 1968 although the original spelling seems for some time to have been “nerdle”. Nurdle is a noun & verb and nurdled & nurdling are verbs; the noun plural is nurdles. The adjective nurdlesque is non-standard but has been used by at least one cricket commentator not impressed by a batsman's slot selection.
The Great Nurdle
Affair
Previously little
discussed in law, the nurdle received some brief attention when a trademark-infringement
lawsuit (Colgate-Palmolive Co v.
GlaxoSmithKline LLC, US District
Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-05728) was filed in July 2010 by
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), makers of Aquafresh “Triple Protection” toothpaste,
against Procter & Gamble (P&G), owners of the Colgate “Triple Action”
brand. Almost immediately, P&G
counter-sued in the same court with the retaliatory GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Colgate-Palmolive, No. 10-05739. One was seeking, inter alia, the exclusive
right to depict a nurdle, the other claiming the image was so generic anyone enjoyed the right.
GSK's Aquafresh Triple Protection & Colgate’s Triple Action.
The disputes hinged on “triple”
as a descriptor and “nurdle”, not as a word but as the image of a wave-shaped blob
of toothpaste sitting atop the bristles on the head of a toothbrush. GSK's core argument was that it held trademark
registrations on both “triple protection” and a red, white & blue-striped nurdle. P&G argued “triple protection” was weak
and that a nurdle is inherently merely descriptive because it is but a literal
image of the product. What the court had
to decide was whether a reasonable consumer, on seeing the nurdle and “triple
action” text description on packages of Colgate toothpaste, could be
sufficiently misled to believe what they were looking at was sourced,
sponsored or endorsed by GSK which used both on their Aguafresh brand.
GSK’s nurdle.
In a filing
of some eighty pages, P&G noted its recent release in the US of a
toothpaste with packaging which superimposes the words “Triple Action” (the
implication being (1) cavity protection, (2) fresh breath & (3), whiter teeth)
atop a blue, white and green nurdle. In
response, GSK, which uses the “Triple Protection” phrase on its Aquafresh
products, filed a trademark application for the "nurdle design" regardless of
color; this induced P&G to sue to enforce its rights to use the nurdle. P&G further noted GSK did not file their application
until after they had already complained about P&G’s nurdle design and
suggested GSK was using the process to stifle competition by asserting an
excessively broad scope for trademark rights.
P&G’s nurdles,
registered by Colgate as trademarks.
GSK’s filing was only half the length and
accused P&G of adopting various nurdle designs and the “Triple Action” mark
in an effort to “trade off the commercial magnetism” of GSK own packaging which had since 1987 included a distinctive red, white and blue nurdle, an
argument which implied elements of both usurpation and ambush marketing. P&G asked the court to declare its
“Triple Action” phrase and interpretation of the nurdle not confusingly similar
to GSK’s own “Triple Protection” phrase and nurdle which used distinctively
different colors. It sought also have the court (1) cancel GSK’s “Triple Protection” and nurdle trademark
registrations and (2), deny such injunctive relief that would have prevented
P&G from using any nurdle design and a phrase containing “triple”. Damages were sought on several grounds
including punitive damages. It was a case of some commercial significance given GSK had deployed the nurdle as a cartoon character in a marketing campaign aimed at children, the idea being that if children pestered their parents enough to buy Aquafresh for them, it was likely they’d gain the whole family as a conquest. The nurdle campaign ran on Nurdle World in the US and The Nurdle Shmurdle in the UK.
Post settlement:
Colgate Triple Action with a visually different nurdle.
Late in 2011, the
parties announced a notice of settlement had been filed in the court; a confidential
settlement had been negotiated. The details have
never been made public but a review of supermarket shelves suggests (1) the red, white & blue GSK nurdle is
acknowledged to be propriety, (2) a
nurdle nevertheless remains generic and can be depicted as long as it is
sufficiently distinguished from GSK’s 1987 original and (3) things claiming to
be of or pertaining to happening in threes may be described as “triple”
whatever but, in the context of toothpaste, “triple protection” is a GSK
trademark. P&G could thus display a
nurdle, just not GSK’s nurdle. So, as a
private settlement, there’s no change to established law but those inhabiting that grey space between ambush marketing and actual deceptive and
misleading conduct no doubt took note. A
judge might anyway find the outcome in accordance with the operation of
trademark law: a trademarked image as specific as the GSK nurdle is entitled to
protection but, as a general principle, a word as notoriously common as
“triple” is the property of the commons available to all.
In Germany, between
the 1920s and the end of World War II (1939-1945), nurdles could be
radio-active, toothpaste sold with trace amounts for thorium obtained from
monazite sands, the promotional material of which read: “Increases the defenses of teeth and gums” & “Gently polishes the dental enamel, so it
turns white and shiny”. Although
known since at least the mid-1920s, it was only in the aftermath of the A-bomb
attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945) that the adverse effects of ionizing
radiation in high or sustained does became widely recognized,
rendering radio-active toothpaste an undesirable product in the minds of mothers everywhere. Although radio-active toothpaste sounds evil, the Nazis can't be blamed for it being on the shelves, its debut dating from the Weimar Republic (1918-1933).
Save Paste structural
concept for toothpaste packaging.
From the days when folk made their own
toothpaste by mixing water, salt and the soot from chimneys, toothpaste has
become one of the sometimes unacknowledged markers of civilized life. The packaging though has been little changed
since 1889 when Johnson & Johnson introduced their range in collapsible
metal tubes. The switch from metal to
plastic happened over decades, necessitated initially by wartime shortages but
by the 1990s, tubes were almost universally plastic. Despite that, the fundamental design remained
unchanged and was often inherently inefficient, supplied in a cardboard box,
much of the internal capacity of which was unused because of the shape of the
tube. The design added cost and induced adverse
environmental outcomes because (1) the box was unnecessary and immediately
discarded and (2), the surplus volume added to the costs of storage and
transportation. One interesting
suggestion has been the trapezoidal package.
By using a single cardboard
container as both collapsible container and display packaging, it eliminates
the need for a separate box. Also, if
designed with the correct geometry, multiple trapezoidal containers can more
efficiently be packed for transportation and storage, thereby reducing the
energy expended. This simple trick of packaging. if extended to all products sold in tubes should result in a significant reduction in energy consumption (road, rail and air transport) and therefore in greenhouse emissions. Additionally, the carboard is more easily recycled than plastic.
One thing toothpaste manufacturers seem never anxious to discuss is the opinion of many experts that GSK’s classic nurdle, extending the length of the brush-head, is way too much
and adults should instead use a nurdle no bigger than a pea. Restraint when squeezing out a nurdle for
children should be even more severe because of the risk when young of swallowing
too much toothpaste containing fluoride: it increases the risk dental
fluorosis, a cosmetic condition that affects the appearance of the teeth,
ranging from brown and light discoloration to darker strains and even pitting. On a very young child’s brush, rather than a
plump nurdle, the toothpaste should just be a smear although they can use an adult's pea-sized nurdle after the age of three. The British Dental Association summarize best
practice by recommending (1) the correct amount of toothpaste for most people
to use is a pea size, (2) brush at least twice daily, with a fluoridated
toothpaste, brush last thing at night and at least on one other occasion; if
possible brush after every meal, (3) use a fluoridated toothpaste (1,350–1,500
ppm fluoride) and (4), spit out after brushing and do not rinse (this maintains
the fluoride concentration level).
Nurdling: Lindsay Lohan on the set of HBO's Eastbound & Down (2013), brushing teeth while smoking. It's an unusual combination but might work OK if one smokes a menthol cigarette and uses a nurdle of mint toothpaste. Other combinations might clash.
