Jar with a Twist

Jar with a Twist (also stylized Jar-with-a-Twist and Jar~with~a~Twist) design concept for a peanut butter jar with a rotating bottom that functions similar to a deodorant stick by raising its contents towards the top of the container. The concept was designed as a school design project, and it was never mass produced or sold on the market.

History and design
Jar with a Twist was created as part of a senior design project at North Carolina State University by Michael Bissette, Stephen Smith, Spencer Vaughn, and Sean Echevarria. Their original plan was to create a squeegee knife that would not get dirty below the handle. But they realized that this already existed in the form of a spatula. They made a proof-of-concept using PVC pipe and a makeshift plug, and then prototyped utilizing the university's 3D printers.

A patent was filed for the finished concept in June 2013. This was later rejected.

The university newspaper, Technician, described the finished product:

"The finished Jar with a Twist design will have a tamper-proof seal on both the top and the bottom of the jar. When you twist the jar’s bottom, no residue will be left behind from the product inside. That’s because the inner-piece and the cylinder meet to form an air- and-watertight seal—the same basic design principle used in the pistons of a car’s engine."

According to the students, the jar was to be made using injection-molded PET plastic but there is no record of any jars being produced this way. The hypothetical shelf life of the jar's contents, once opened, should match that of a normal peanut butter jar — about 3 to 6 months.

The students created a (seemingly non-functional) website where the jar would be purchased, a decision that was likely part of the school project.

The students claim to be working on expanding their design to work with jelly, salsa, and mayonnaise. They also state that each peanut butter jar was expected to cost $0.13 to manufacture. One cent of each unit's manufacturing cost will be a licensing fee for the Jar with a Twist company. However, since Jar with a Twist was made for a school project and there is no sign of production more than a decade later, it is highly likely that there were required to make up details about how they would bring their product to market.

There is no record of any Jar with a Twist being sold.

Press coverage
Jar with a Twist was covered in North Carolina State's Technician article on August 22, 2013. It was on The Huffington Post website, which claimed it was "a brilliant idea". Gizmodo published a story about the jar with the title "The Peanut Butter Jar Has Been Perfected." Nadine DeNinno of the International Business Times said the product's invention was "a stroke of genius." The jar has also been featured on ABC News, Foodbeast, the Winnipeg Free Press, and Slate.