The Story of the 'HOPEFUL' Bowl from FIFTYEIGHT PRODUCTS

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, FIFTYEIGHT PRODUCTS released an entirely new product encouraging people to wear a mask and stop the spread: The HOPEFUL bowl renders the company's classic TASSEN porcelain bowls with a PPE face mask as a symbol of hope and keeping one another safe. What's more, the company donates 1 EUR for every bowl sold to Covid-19 relief efforts. This is the inside story behind the bowl with the mask.

Here at FIFTYEIGHT PRODUCTS, we cultivate a positive approach to life and an optimistic overall outlook. This attitude has proven extremely helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our optimism helps us maintain our team spirit and keep focusing our energy on the relevant things in life as we deal with home office work, video conferences and social distancing guidelines.

Dealing with the crisis as a design-driven company also posed the question of how we could make a contribution towards keeping these times in our collective memory? Answer: A TASSEN bowl with a face mask!

But why a mask? 

Most of all, the face mask is a clear symbol of change on an enormous scale. Nothing in the past decades has disrupted our daily lives and routines, as well as our social interactions, like the Covid-19 pandemic.

Suddenly, nothing was the same and we had to adapt to the new situation, no matter how inconvenient that was. And in that light, staying optimistic and being hopeful about the future was the natural response.

This new bowl design represents our shared values, taking responsibility for each other’s safety and the unwavering belief that everything is going to be alright. 

The face mask serves as an iconic symbol for everything the global community is facing together since the pandemic hit in 2020. For this reason, it’s also an important time to be remembered in the future. In that light, our bowl could become a witness to history. Maybe it will end up in a museum one day, but for now, we like it for our cereal.

NEW PRODUCT AMID PANDEMIC CHALLENGES

In order to make the new bowl a reality, we had to overcome two challenges: First, how would it be possible to shorten the usual lead time for bringing a new product to the table from one year down to a few months, so we could offer the new bowl by mid-2020?

And second, what should we even call this new TASSEN character?

To solve the first part, the entire FIFTYEIGHT PRODUCTS team worked together as a unit from the socially distanced safety of our home offices. From the design team to sales, marketing and procurement, everyone played their part to speed up the process and bring this new bowl into production.

Plus, we were able to count on the great cooperation with our manufacturing partner (extra special thanks for the amazing initiative on this project).

While it can usually take up to a full year to realize a brand-new product from initial design all the way to prototyping, we managed to make it happen in less than four months.

So with this in mind, this new TASSEN product also makes a strong case for what is possible when we all focus our energy on a common goal.

A SYMBOL OF HOPE

The question of naming the new bowl also came natural. It's a direct reflection of our attitude in facing this crisis, so the new TASSEN bowl is called HOPEFUL. 

"HOPEFUL – nothing is more apt to describe how we want to meet this crisis," said Marc Eckart, Co-Founder & CEO at FIFTYEIGHT.

The bowl reflects our shared belief that will continue to guide us in the future of dealing with this crisis. And it also sums up what we, as a company, stand for in this world: HOPEFULNESS and HAPPINESS.

SUPPORTING A GOOD CAUSE

Here’s another positive note: For every one of our new HOPEFUL bowls sold, we are donating 1 euro to a positive cause.

As of 2021, our donations have already benefited recipients in five countries. These initiatives have each received EUR 5000.00 for their work to help fight the pandemic and its effects on society.

Recipients of the donations have included:

• the Frankfurt University Hospital daycare “Unistrolche” (“Little University rascals”) in Germany
• Covid-19 research at the INSTITUT PASTEUR in Paris, France
• the Cáritas Organisation in Las Matas-Las Rozas de Madrid, a suburb of the Spanish capital
• the IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele hospital in Milan, Italy
• the FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY.

Stay tuned as we announce the next round of donations soon. Thanks to everyone who has made these efforts possible with their purchase. And thanks for continuing to keep each other safe (and don't forget to treat yourself to the good life at home).

Also make sure to read our full coverage of donations from sales of the HOPEFUL bowl, constantly updated on the global FIFTYEIGHT PRODUCTS website.

 Click here to purchase the HOPEFUL BOWL on our web store.