Nobody's that stupid...?

[ffutures]

I was just out getting a sandwich for lunch and overheard a snatch of conversation from one of the cafe tables that sounded truly bizarre:

"Of course the real reason the US is phasing out tin cans is that the chemical name sounds like 'satanic'"

I think that the guy who said this was one of three men, all in their thirties-forties and fairly smartly dressed. Wouldn't amaze me if they were advertising people, there are some agencies in the area.

I just did a web search and can't find anything that looks like this sort of nonsense, but the chemical name for many tin compounds does begin "stannic" and that isn't far off being an anagram if you are deeply stupid. Anyone know anything about this?

Comments

[captboulanger.livejournal.com]

The only "phasing out" of metal cans I've witnessed is in the case of coffee, where some brands are now using thick, rigid plastic containers (similar grade plastic to that used for ketchup or mayonnaise).

Of course, it's possible they are shifting to a different type of metal.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

As heliograph mentioned there's been a long-term shift from steel cans with soldered joints top and bottom (the type which still use a little tin) to the modern metal cans which are formed as a cup-shaped pressing with a top that is attached by a rolled plastic-lined joint; usually aluminium, but increasingly made of very thin steel with a plastic inner lining. The old type has almost completely vanished for soft drink cans and other pressurised liquids (e.g. beer) and increasingly is only made in large sizes where there are technical difficulties in making the cup type. For the smaller sizes the new ones are cheaper, more recyclable, and much easier to manufacture. And one of the main reasons for adopting them is that tin is a finite resource and can't easily be recycled.

All of which has nothing to do with the conversation I overheard, of course, it's just the real reason.