June 06, 2014

Weekly Round-Up

  1. Touch Purse. Marketer: Spark Innovators. Producer: Monte-Brooks. Pitch: "Little purse holds it all and ... lets you use your touch-screen phone without having to remove it." Comments: This one was No. 23 on the Jordan Whitney last week, so I'm just posting for posterity. [ss]
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  2. Pasta Swing. Starring: Mario Rizzotti. Marketer: Telebrands. Pitch: "Cook, drain and serve pasta from one pan." Comments: An apparent 'fast fail.' (You can still watch the amusing spot on YouTube.) I like this product, but this is the second time it has been tried on DRTV without success. The first time was a 2008 Allstar test under the name Pivot Pot. [ss]
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  3. BBQ Dragon. Pitch: "Supercharge your BBQ with the revolutionary fire starter." Comments: I love to grill and would love to have this product. But even I'm not paying $50 for it! The difficulties of capitalizing on grill season have also been detailed on this blog before. Guess we'll see how the Miracle Grill Mat and Yoshi Grill & Bake Mat end up doing at retail. [ss]
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  4. Fing. Pitch: "The ultimate game controller for your touch-screen device." Comments: Wrong demo for DR, and so far nothing in this general category has worked. [ss]
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  5. Swing N Shape. Producer: Avalanche. Pitch: "The new, better way to tone your whole body." Comments: I can't think of a recent female fitness success in short form, but feel free to use the comments section to correct me if I'm wrong. [ss]
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  6. Swipets. Pitch: "Pulls pet hair from virtually everything." Comments: This project has been tried using all different kinds of creatives. A DR attempt is here. But this one is my favorite! Anyway, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. As for the category, here's a brief history: Power Picker Upper/Magic Lint Remover (two hits in the 'Golden Age'), Lint Wizard Pro (flop in 2008), Mr. Sticky (flop in 2009), Sticky Wicky (flop in 2010), Pet Hair Picksy (flop in 2010) and Schticky/Sticky Buddy (two True Top Spenders for 2012). So the history is decidedly mixed. [ss]
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  7. Titan Chef. Pitch: "Super balance, cutting power and resilience." Comments: Although this project doesn't have much to offer in the way of a point of difference, the value proposition is certainly unbeatable. It will be interesting to see what happens given knife history is all over the place. For every Yoshi Blade and Aero Knife, there's a Yoshi Glide and Fire & Ice Knife. And the Sharpware steak knives I really liked don't seem to have gone anywhere. [ss]

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