Blue Moon's Pillow Puff commercial (No. 2)
Just in time for ERA, here's the latest batch of attempts:
- Hug of Love. Pitch: "The all natural way to make your dog feel safe and secure." Marketer: Telebrands. Comments: I like the Allstar/Blue Moon version of this project better (see No. 5). That said, I did like the name and the comparison to "the way a parent tightly swaddles an infant." Both are great analogies. [a]
- Pillow Puff. Pitch: "Pillow when you want it, blanket when you need it." Marketer: Telebrands. Producer: Blue Moon Studios (watch the commercial above). Comments: I like this product, and I think it has a decent shot of catching on like Snuggie did. That said, it's one of those items that if you think about too long, you probably won't buy. [a]
- Shake Stop. Pitch: "Stop your washer from shaking up the house." Marketer: Telebrands. Comments: Scratching my head again ... How many people can possibly have this problem? [a]
- Show Stoppers. Pitch: "Fashion tape that keeps you looking confident and classy in everything you wear." Marketer: Smart Inventions. Producer: Sullivan Productions. Comments: It's still unclear whether Style Snaps is an outlier or a category (based on my "one is an outlier; three is a category" rule), but this would be the next logical test. My only concern is whether fashion tape is widely known and widely available. If it is, then this one will struggle. Otherwise, it has a strong rationale, the same one that drove Cami Secret's success. [a]
- Snap Light. Pitch: "Snaps instantly to just about any surface." Marketer: IdeaVillage. Producer: Blue Moon Studios. Comments: Attempt No. 183. This has a cool visual demo and sound effect, but I'm not predicting success for any lighting product these days given the recent history of the category. DRTV marketers seem to have an endless fascination, but there have been too many failures. This may be another Siren, so sailors beware! [a]
- Stand Up Styler. Pitch: "Curved design lets you stand it up" and it "has an ingenious wall mount that holds your dryer for super easy, two-handed styling." Marketer: Allstar. Producer: Blue Moon Studios. Comments: Cool product, but $29.95 is a little steep for an impulse purchase these days, and the blowdryer category is pretty crowded.
- Tech Talk Sunglasses. Marketer: IdeaVillage. Pitch: "Lets you have hands-free conversations directly through your sunglasses." Comments: This is just a bad product idea, mainly for social risk reasons (the price doesn't help either). While it's true that, once upon a time, talking on the phone using a wireless earpiece looked and felt strange, that isn't a good rationale for this item. After all, it took years for earpieces to catch on and become mainstream -- not exactly the right timeline for a DRTV product. [a]
- Whoa Buddy Blanket. Pitch: "Mimics aluminum foil, a well-known pet deterrent." Marketer: Jarden Consumer Solutions. Comments: As I mentioned in my review of Shed Monster, I really like the visual technique the Jarden team is using for testimonials. In this spot, I also liked the steak-in-the-center demo they came up with as proof the product works. The problem is this item has already been tried (by SAS Group and Blue Moon under the name Skedaddle) without success. I see no reason why the outcome this time would be any different. [a]
