Description: A portable device charger
Main Pitch: "Quickly and easily recharge your cell phone without an outlet"
Main Offer: $19.99 for one (silver or black)
Bonus: 2nd one (just pay P&H)
Marketer: Ontel
Website: www.BuyPowerUp.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed
This has become another Siren product, one that I'm surprised to see marketers keep chasing. Perhaps the roll-out of the Bell + Howell Solar Charger threw people off, but Emson rolls out a lot of products that have failed multiple times before. It appears to be some sort of brand/retail strategy.
Among those who continue to value CPOs above other considerations, the history is discouraging. Telebrands, for example, has tested two phone chargers (Finger Charger, Plug Purse) with no signs of life. In general, the 'device accessories' category has been a big dud and is now on my Bad Categories list.
As for the commercial, the opening sounded really familiar to me ... Turns out it's the same opening as Speed Out with the copy changed to fit. Self-plagiarism isn't a crime (or an ethics breach), and the consumer probably won't notice or care, so I see no problem with it. Just a little strange is all.
(Update: I originally reported the producer of this commercial was Infomercials Inc. It turns out that Infomercials Inc. did not produce this commercial, so it was not self-plagiarism after all. It was just plagiarism! This is the second time I have caught this sort of thing in as many weeks. Unless there is a back story here I don't know about, whoever wrote this commercial should hang his/her head in shame.)
