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This recent New York Times article about the glitter industry and describing a tour of a glitter factory is, I suppose, mildly but banally interesting - except for a giant glitter-mystery bomb that it drops near the end. It seems this mystery has caught the attention of some quarters of the internet, leading to massive speculation.
In the article, the author tours the Glitterex manufacturing plant. At one point during the tour, he questions plant manager Lauren Dyer about the highly strict secrecy when it comes to purchasers of Glitterex's products:
Sooooo......what is it? What industry IS the largest buyer of the world's glitter? Remember, it has to be an application that 1) isn't obviously and self-evidently glitter, AND 2) must be something that the company DOESN'T want the public knowing in general that it contains glitter. Both of these conditions would seem to rule out the aforementioned automotive paints, things like skin/hair/beauty products, and products made of plastics and rubbers where the glitter they contain is readily visible. But what does that leave?
In the article, the author tours the Glitterex manufacturing plant. At one point during the tour, he questions plant manager Lauren Dyer about the highly strict secrecy when it comes to purchasers of Glitterex's products:
For context, the automotive-grade pigments were simply the next stop on the tour, not the hint or the answer that the author was begging for.This was all very forthright, but it did not explain the air of oppressive secrecy that seems to permeate the glitter industry. Did Glitterex worry I would describe its equipment so accurately that readers might construct their own machines to manufacture their own glitter in bulk quantities? Mr. Shetty said that, trade secrets aside, confidentiality is a top-down requirement from clients. Companies do not want others in their industry to know what glitters are in their products, to prevent competitors from making identical formulations.
When I asked Ms. Dyer if she could tell me which industry served as Glitterex’s biggest market, her answer was instant: “No, I absolutely know that I can’t.”
I was taken aback. “But you know what it is?”
“Oh, God, yes,” she said, and laughed. “And you would never guess it. Let’s just leave it at that.” I asked if she could tell me why she couldn’t tell me. “Because they don’t want anyone to know that it’s glitter.”
“If I looked at it, I wouldn’t know it was glitter?”
“No, not really.”
“Would I be able to see the glitter?”
“Oh, you’d be able to see something. But it’s — yeah, I can’t.”
I asked if she would tell me off the record. She would not. I asked if she would tell me off the record after this piece was published. She would not. I told her I couldn’t die without knowing. She guided me to the automotive grade pigments.
Sooooo......what is it? What industry IS the largest buyer of the world's glitter? Remember, it has to be an application that 1) isn't obviously and self-evidently glitter, AND 2) must be something that the company DOESN'T want the public knowing in general that it contains glitter. Both of these conditions would seem to rule out the aforementioned automotive paints, things like skin/hair/beauty products, and products made of plastics and rubbers where the glitter they contain is readily visible. But what does that leave?