Weekly Round-Up

1. Amazing Elastic Plastic. Marketer: SAS Group. Pitch: "Create exciting balloons that are way more fun that ordinary balloons." Comments:This is a non-DR "old gold" item from years ago. It has the "wow" to be successful and a history of kids going crazy for it, which would normally spell success. But as I wrote in my Wonki Wands review (No. 8 in this Weekly Round-Up), there is too much competition now with Juggle Bubbles and Wubble Bubble already in rollout. [ss]
 
2. Burrito Perfect. Marketer: InvenTel. Pitch: "The simple, fast, mess-free way to make perfect burritos any day." Comments: A 'fast fail.' This 'Flip Fold for burritos' probably only makes sense if you work at Chipotle. (Link goes to spot.) [ss]
 
3. GlowJamas. Marketer: Lenfest. Pitch: "The amazing glow-in-the-dark pajama shirts." Comments: Another apparent 'fast fail.' Neat concept but apparently not enough play value or "wow" to generate that all-important "pester power." [ss]
 
4. InstaLamp. Pitch: "Instantly put a lamp anywhere -- no electric outlet required." Comments: A predictable 'fast fail.' Still a Siren category. [ss]
 
5. K9 Dentist. Pitch: "Vet quality cleaning at a fraction of the cost." Comments: I covered the history of this category in my review of Allstar's Brush No More, so I won't rehash it here. In a nutshell: One success (and a 'follower') versus six flops. [ss]
 
6. Kleva Chef. Marketer: Allstar. Pitch: "Turns the jobs you hate into the jobs you love." Comments: Yet another 'fast fail.' This fail was probably about the product: It's not very exciting. [ss]
 
7. Marshmallow Puff Pop. Marketer: Edison Nation. Pitch: "The fun way to make yummy treats you can eat." Comments: Looks delicious, but this category is a roll of the dice. [ss]
 
8. Ora Pup. Pitch: "Helps cure bad dog breath." Comments: In fact, this exact concept has been tried twice before (see Fresh Licks and Brushy Bowl). [ss]
 
9. Personal Pedi. Pitch: "Quickly removes hard, ugly calluses." Comments: This is a third attempt after Emjoi's Micro-Pedi and Telebrands' Ped Egg Power. I don't know the fate of the second project yet, but I suspect this is going to be a 'third time is never the charm' situation. [ss]
 
10. Point and Clean. Marketer: Spark Innovators. Pitch: "The most advanced home cleaning tool ever created." Comments: This is a Point 'N Paint for cleaning -- and the final 'fast fail' of the week. (Link goes to spot.) Painting gadgets have a solid track record on DRTV (Point 'N Paint was No. 38 on the 2009 JW Annual), but I can't say the same about cleaning gadgets. With the possible exception of Telebrands' Windshield Wonder, I can't think of a single success. [ss]
 
11. Poresonic. Marketer: National Express. Pitch: "Professional results right at home every day." Comments: My guess is that women will be afraid of using a powered device on their face, particularly one that doesn't have the backing of a known brand. In general, this is the problem with beauty and DR. [ss]
 
12. Sure Stop Wedge. Marketer: Will It Launch. Pitch: "The world's premier door stop." Comments: This product wouldn't even make it onto a presentation at most of the major DRTV companies, let alone all the way to TV. Prediction: Bomb. [ss]