NEW YORK (AP) — The company behind Tupperware, the plastic kitchenware that revolutionized food storage after World War II and became inextricably linked to the parties where women seeking a measure of financial independence and fun in midcentury America sold the colorful products, has filed for bankruptcy.

Tupperware Brands, the Orlando, Florida-based consumer goods company that produces the iconic line of containers, said it was seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after struggling to revitalize its core business and failing to secure a tenable takeover offer.

Despite enjoying the same cultural ubiquity as Kleenex, Teflon and other brands whose trademarked names are eponymous with entire product categories, Tupperware has suffered from waning sales, rising competition and the limitations of the direct-to-consumer marketing model that once defined its success.

The company said Tuesday in its bankruptcy filing that consumers shifting away from direct sales, which make up the vast majority of its sales more than a quarter-century after the first Tupperware parties, has hit the storied business hard.

The company also cited growing public health and environmental concerns about plastic, internal inefficiencies that made it challenging to operate globally, and the “challenging microeconomic environment” of the last several years for its financial straits.

Tupperware said it planned to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would seek court approval for a sale “in order to protect” the brand.

Tupperware’s roots date to 1946. As the company tells it, chemist Earl Tupper found inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory. He set out on a mission to create an airtight lid seal — similar to the one on a paint can — for a plastic container to help families save money on food waste.

The brand experienced explosive growth in the mid-20th century, particularly with the rise of direct sales through Tupperware parties. First held in 1948, the parties were promoted as a way for women to earn supplemental income by selling their friends and neighbors the lidded bowls for holding leftovers.

The system worked so well that Tupperware eventually removed its products from stores. It also led Tupper to appoint Brownie Wise, who came up with the house party idea, as a company executive, a position that was rare for a woman at the time.

In the decades that followed, the brand expanded to include canisters, beakers, cake dishes and all manner of implements, and became a staple in kitchens across America and eventually, abroad as well. A newspaper reporter who went undercover to work as a footman in Buckingham Palace captured pictures of the royal Tupperware on the breakfast table of Queen Elizabeth II.

The story behind the company also showed up on TV screens and on stage, with depictions in PBS’ 2004 film “Tupperware!” and the play “Sealed for Freshness.”

“For more than 70 years, Tupperware Brands has centered on a core purpose – to inspire women to cultivate the confidence they need to enrich their lives, nourish their families, and fuel communities around the world,” Tricia Stitzel, the company’s first female CEO, wrote as recently as 2018. “And we continue to make decisions, from our innovative products to our strategic growth strategy, which reflect this purpose.”

In the 2000s, Tupperware also diversified beyond its containers by acquiring beauty and personal care companies, most of them direct-selling brands like Avroy Shlain, Fuller Cosmetics, NaturCare, Nutrimetics and Nuvo.

Financial analysts, however, criticized Tupperware in recent years for sticking with the direct sales model and failing to evolve with the times, most notably the large number of women who work outside the home.

“The reality is that the decline at Tupperware is not new,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in Wednesday commentary. “It is very difficult to see how the brand can get back to its glory days.”

The company’s sales improved some during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Americans were cooking and eating more at home. But overall sales have been in steady decline over the years due to rising competition from Rubbermaid, OXO and even takeout food containers that consumers recycle. Vintage Tupperware also remains in demand as a collectible.

Overall, sales for food storage supplies are up 18% compared to before the pandemic, according to figures from market research firm Circana. But despite that growth – and the ongoing popularity of food storage videos on social media – the troubles for Tupperware remained.

Saunders explained that many consumers have migrated to less expensive home storage brands they can find at Target and Walmart. Amazon, the king of online retailers, also has its own line.

Historically, Tupperware marketed its products as higher-quality durable items. But consumers who are looking for durability are interested in more sustainable materials, such as glass and stainless steel, said Jennifer Christ, manager of consumer and commercial research for the Freedonia Group, a market research company.

“There’s less brand loyalty than there used to be,” Christ said.

In the past few years, Tupperware tried a few things to expand its reach and attract new customers. It started selling its products on Amazon as well as in stores at Target and Macy’s. In 2019, the brand also launched a line made with sustainable materials and expanded it two years later.

But financial troubles continued to pile up.

Last year, the company sought additional financing as it warned investors about its ability to stay in business and its risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

The company received an additional non-compliance notice from the NYSE for failing to file its annual results with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. Tupperware continued to warn about its ability to stay afloat in more recent months, with an August securities filing pointing to “significant liquidity challenges.”

Shares for the company have fallen 75% this year.

In Tuesday’s bankruptcy petition, Tupperware reported more than $1.2 billion in total debts and $679.5 million in total assets. It said Tupperware currently employs more than 5,450 employees across 41 countries and partners with over 465,000 consultants who sell products on a freelance basis in nearly 70 countries. Particularly in India, Tupperware was introduced as a way for women to own their own businesses.

Many Tupperware sellers market the products online, but many also make their sales during Tupperware parties at their homes or neighborhood gatherings. In the announcement of the filing, the company maintained that there were no current changes to Tupperware’s independent sales consultant agreements.

Tupperware also pointed to aims to “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company,” possibly signaling a move toward increased reliance of sales on the brand’s website or perhaps more online-focused marketing, although the company did not provide exact specifics.

In a statement, Tupperware President and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman acknowledged Tupperware’s recent financial struggles and said that the bankruptcy process is meant to provide “essential flexibility” as the company pursues this transformation. The brand, she maintains, isn’t going anywhere.

“Whether you are a dedicated member of our Tupperware team, sell, cook with, or simply love our Tupperware products, you are a part of our Tupperware family,” Goldman said in a statement. “We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process.”

The company’s bankruptcy filing, though, faces opposition from Tupperware’s new lenders, who want the petition dismissed or converted it to a Chapter 7 case, which would liquidate the company. Alternatively, they’re asking the court for permission to take action against the company, which could allow them to collect debt they’re owed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can now renew their passports online, bypassing a cumbersome mail-in paper application process that often caused delays.

The State Department announced Wednesday that its online renewal system is now fully operational, after testing in pilot programs, and available to adult passport holders whose passport has expired within the past five years or will expire in the coming year. It is not available for the renewal of children’s passports, for first-time passport applicants for renewal applicants who live outside the United States or for expedited applications.

“By offering this online alternative to the traditional paper application process, the Department is embracing digital transformation to offer the most efficient and convenient passport renewal experience possible,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The department said it estimated that about 5 million Americans would be able to use this service a year. In 2023, it processed 24 million passports, about 40% of which were renewals.

After staffing shortages caused mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lengthy passport processing delays, the department ramped up hiring and introduced other technological improvements that have reduced wait times by about one-third over last year. It says most applications are now completed in far less than the advertised six weeks to eight weeks and the online renewal system is expected to further reduce that.

The system will allow renewal applicants to skip the current process, which requires them to print out and send paper applications, photos and a check by mail, and submit their documents, photo, and payment through a secure website, www.Travel.State.Gov/renewonline.

There will be no change to the existing passport processing fees, which are currently $130 for a regular renewal.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter, whose bureau oversees passport processing said the department hoped to expand the program in the coming years to possibly include Americans living abroad, those seeking to renew a second passport and children’s passports.

“This is not going to be the last thing that we do,” she told reporters. “We want to see how this goes and then we’ll start looking at ways to continue to make this service available to more American citizens in the coming months and years.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Instagram is making teen accounts private by default as it tries to make the platform safer for children amid a growing backlash against how social media affects young people’s lives.

Beginning Tuesday in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, anyone under 18 who signs up for Instagram will be placed into restrictive teen accounts and those with existing accounts will be migrated over the next 60 days. Teens in the European Union will see their accounts adjusted later this year.

Parent company Meta acknowledges that teenagers may lie about their age and says it will require them to verify their ages in more instances, like if they try to create a new account with an adult birthday. The Menlo Park, California company also said it is building technology that proactively finds teen accounts that pretend to be grownups and automatically places them into the restricted teen accounts.

The teen accounts will be private by default. Private messages are restricted so teens can only receive them from people they follow or are already connected to. “Sensitive content,” such as videos of people fighting or those promoting cosmetic procedures, will be limited, Meta said. Teens will also get notifications if they are on Instagram for more than 60 minutes and a “sleep mode” will be enabled that turns off notifications and sends auto-replies to direct messages from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.

While these settings will be turned on for all teens, 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to turn them off. Kids under 16 will need their parents’ permission to do so.

“The three concerns we’re hearing from parents are that their teens are seeing content that they don’t want to see or that they’re getting contacted by people they don’t want to be contacted by or that they’re spending too much time on the app,” said Naomi Gleit, head of product at Meta. “So teen accounts is really focused on addressing those three concerns.”

The announcement comes as the company faces lawsuits from dozens of U.S. states that accuse it of harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

While Meta didn’t give specifics on how the changes might affect its business, the company said the changes may mean that teens will use Instagram less in the short term. Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg said the revenue impact of the changes “will likely be minimal.”

“Even as Meta continues to prioritize teen safety, it’s unlikely that it’s going to make sweeping changes that would cause a major financial hit,” she said, adding that the teen accounts are unlikely to significantly affect how engaged teens are with Instagram “not in the least because there are still plenty of ways to circumvent the rules, and could even make them more motivated to work around the age limits.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Meta’s announcement was “an important first step, but much more needs to be done to ensure our kids are protected from the harms of social media.” James’ office is working with other New York officials on how to implement a new state law intended to curb children’s access to what critics call addictive social media feeds.

Others were more critical. Nicole Gil, the co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Accountable Tech, called Instagram’s announcement the “latest attempt to avoid actual independent oversight and regulation and instead continue to self-regulate, jeopardizing the health, safety, and privacy of young people.”

“Today’s PR exercise falls short of the safety by design and accountability that young people and their parents deserve and only meaningful policy action can guarantee,” she said. “Meta’s business model is built on addicting its users and mining their data for profit; no amount of parental and teen controls Meta is proposing will change that.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the co-author of the Kids Online Safety Act that recently passed the Senate, questioned the timing of the announcement “on the eve of a House markup” of the bill.

“Just like clockwork, the Kids Online Safety Act moves forward and industry comes out with a new set of self-enforcing guidelines,” she said.

In the past, Meta’s efforts at addressing teen safety and mental health on its platforms have also been met with criticism that the changes don’t go far enough. For instance, while kids will get a notification when they’ve spent 60 minutes on the app, they will be able to bypass it and continue scrolling.

That’s unless the child’s parents turn on “parental supervision” mode, where parents can limit teens’ time on Instagram to a specific amount of time, such as 15 minutes.

With the latest changes, Meta is giving parents more options to oversee their kids’ accounts. Those under 16 will need a parent or guardian’s permission to change their settings to less restrictive ones. They can do this by setting up “parental supervision” on their accounts and connecting them to a parent or guardian.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said last week that parents don’t use the parental controls the company has introduced in recent years.

Meta’s Gleit said she thinks the teen accounts will incentivize parents to start using them.

“Parents will be able to see, via the family center, who is messaging their teen and hopefully have a conversation with their teen,” she said. “If there is bullying or harassment happening, parents will have visibility into who their teen’s following, who’s following their teen, who their teen has messaged in the past seven days and hopefully have some of these conversations and help them navigate these really difficult situations online.”

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year that tech companies put too much responsibility on parents when it comes to keeping children safe on social media.

“We’re asking parents to manage a technology that’s rapidly evolving that fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world — and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage,” Murthy said in May 2023.