Atlas Ignites Imagination with Rocket-Inspired Packaging

The Smurfit Westrock team took on the challenge of adding value to the consumer experience by creating packaging with an extended lifespan and the potential for new uses. The company name, Atlas, evokes thoughts of greatness, the planet, space, and the adventurous spirit of those who explore new horizons. Using the name as inspiration, the Smurfit Westrock team developed an “out-of-this-world” idea for Children’s Day in Brazil (celebrated in October)—a box that could later be turned into a toy rocket.  

The project required creativity and precision to develop a new feature for the existing packaging without compromising product quality or disrupting Atlas’ internal production processes and supply chain logistics. The additional challenge: transforming conventional rectangular packaging into the cylindrical shape of a rocket.

In order to turn a box into a cylindrical shape, the team added graphics with special folds and perforations to the corrugated packaging, so parents would know where to cut and fold. Once an Atlas stove is removed from the packaging and parents follow the assembly instructions, children can blast off on an imaginative journey. Fully transformed, the creative and functional design is a rocket with a hexagonal shape and a pointed roof. (Click on the QR code in the picture to see the box on your phone in augmented reality or see how it transforms on YouTube.)   

As a functioning toy with the Atlas logo front and center, the new packaging also serves as a marketing tool to better connect the brand to the families using its products. The specialty box design provides: 

• Sustainability: Made from recyclable and reusable corrugated cardboard. 
• Memorable customer experience: Turns into a functional toy to encourage imaginative play. 
• Clever marketing: Extends the brand experience by making branded packaging reusable.