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Rubberwood Adirondack Chair
- Made of rubberwood, which is actual wood from rubber trees (not what it sounds like)
- Has the lounging qualities of a hammock and the stable, won’t-dump-you-on-the-ground qualities of a chair
- Why are we bothering to tell you that – everybody knows what an Adirondack chair is
- Right? But did you know that Adirondack chairs were originally designed for tuberculosis convalescents?
- Assembly required (we used an electric screwdriver to assemble ours and it was a relative breeze)
- Model: S01050 (Not to be confused with this “Active Teen Idol” Japanese trading card, which beats these chairs in search results.)
Hevea Heart
In a world in which “vegan leather” means “fake leather,” you might think “rubberwood” means “plastic that sort of looks like wood.” But it doesn’t. Rubberwood is actual wood from the rubber tree.
In fact, despite its artificial-sounding name, rubberwood is one of the most environmentally friendly sources of lumber, since it’s harvested from “working” rubber trees that are past their prime. These were trees that were going to be chopped down and replaced with younger, rubberier trees anyway, so rubberwood is actually kinda upcycled.
That said, not everyone can be expected to read two whole paragraphs about rubberwood, and most will probably remain turned off by the name. Which means the rubberwood people have a serious branding problem. It also means you can get a good deal on rubberwood Adirondack chairs (since other consumers couldn’t be bothered to read).
Attempts are already being made to rebrand rubberwood as “Hevea” after the tree’s genus: Hevea brasiliensis. But to our ears that’s only marginally better. It sounds like a combination of “heavy” and “hernia” — not an image you want to evoke in a large chair you’ll be moving across your deck.
Instead, we think the rubberwood cabal should take a page from the California Raisin Advisory Board, which, in the mid-80s, took one of the least sexy foods imaginable and turned it into a pop culture icon
(Wow. We forgot all about that one. Weird.)
The rubberwood people should follow in the California Raisin’s large, sneakered footsteps. They could throw down a few hundred million on the rights to “Norwegian Wood” (off Rubber Soul), hire some 3D animators, and create an advertising sensation.
And just think — you’ll be lounging on the rubberwood Adirondack chair you bought before this ad campaign launched and sent rubberwood prices through the roof. That’s relaxing.