Vancouver shop tries to shame customers from using plastic bags but people flock to buy them

The store decided that they would put embarrassing shop names on their plastic bags, shaming the user into bringing a reusable bag. While that plan is both funny and creative, it turned out to not be effective.

The East West Market used logos of Adult Video stores and Colonoscopy shops on their bags, and guess what? People loved it.

Customers flocked to the shop to buy up the 5 cent bags, just to get their hands on the unique designs.

The store owner, David Kwen, wasn’t overly bummed by the total flop his initiative ended up being.

“The underlying thing is that it creates conversation and that’s what we actually wanted to get across to the general public,” he told NPR.

Now, Kwen is planning to print the slogans and logos on tote bags, so that shoppers can reuse them.

So, instead of shaming shoppers into bringing their own reusable bags, his creative designs will actually be encouraging shoppers to buy creative bags.

Vancouver currently does not have a plastic bag ban. Other cities, such as Victoria, have a 25 cent price-tag on the pesky yet convenient plastics.