Description: A food tray
Main Pitch: "The perfect way for today's modern family to enjoy a meal while watching TV"
Main Offer: $10 for one
Bonus: 2nd one (just pay a separate fee)
Marketer: Telebrands
Website: www.TVTimeTray.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed
I have no sense of how many families eat dinner in front of the TV these days, but the idea of a "TV dinner" strikes me as extremely dated -- about as dated as the "space age." Maybe Telebrands has a time capsule from the 1960s and is trying a radical 'Old Gold' strategy?
Joking aside, this actually raises an interesting point about resurrecting old items. In exploring the DRTV past, I've encountered many hit items that capitalized on a trend of the times. Microwave cooking is an example: There was a time a few decades ago when the microwave had reached the height of its penetration and popularity, so microwave cooking items did well. These days, there are many more failures than successes (as I recently discussed here).
Of course, the biggest trend of yesteryear was DRTV itself. Back when buying stuff off TV was still new and the Internet didn't yet exist (what I call the "Golden Age"), hits were more plentiful. These days, the novelty has worn off and finding hits is harder than ever.
