The Mason Jar company was not satisfied with dominating the home canning supplies field. They wanted to expand out. So they thought long and hard about what they could do. It was suggested during one of their brainstorming meetings that, since some people used Mason jars as drinking vessels, they could expand into the one-time-use cup market. This was greeted with enthusiasm, and the beginnings of that were sent to the R&D department.
At the same time, the Dixie cup people were unhappy with only dominating the paper one-time-use cup market. Since some of the board of directors either canned their own fruits or vegetables, or had fond memories of their mothers canning foods, it was proposed that they would move into the home canning supply field. And, with enthusiasm, things were set in motion for that new production to begin.
Then, corporate spies from each company learned of the others’ plans. This information swiftly got back to each company’s CEO, who was not pleased. Citing copyright infringement (despite nothing having been produced or even fully designed yet), large swarms of lawyers for each company descended upon each-other.
It was after a very short time, that each company began (under the toll of massive legal fees) to think, “maybe just the near-monopoly we already own is good enough - start competing head-to-head with another company producing the same products, and we may actually lose market share!”
So the CEOs sat down together and discussed their options. Ultimately, they agreed to not venture into the other’s area of market dominance. But they also decided that they could work together to create a new set of items that would utilize both of their areas of expertise, and release it as a shared product between the two companies. What they decided on was a completely new product of single-use canning supplies for the ‘canner on the go’. They would be sterile on purchase, and individually wrapped, so that no prep was needed before canning took place.
Some people seemed to be pleased with the idea. However the two companies did not count on the environmental awareness of the public. When the single-use nature, and all the additional packaging materials were learned of, there was a huge outcry from every environmental group about the tremendous strain it would put on the already-overwhelmed nature of trash disposal on the planet.
After just a short time, the line of single-use canning supplies was abandoned by the two companies. But people all over still recognize it’s name, because supporters versus detractors could be split along . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the Mason-Dixie Line.