Description: A knife sharpener
Main Pitch: "Restores the razor edge on any blade in seconds"
Main Offer: $14.99 for one
Marketer: Hampton
Watch the spot
Knife sharpeners have an erratic history on DRTV. I can't decide if the category is a good one or a bad one. Hutton-Miller (your reigning True Top Producer) and SAS Group have the best track record with 2007-2008's Samurai Shark (starring the late, great Billy Mays) and 2012's Samurai Pro (starring Chef Robert Irvine) to their credit. Telebrands' Lady Gaga-inspired Edge of Glory followed the latter, and both ended up on the annual charts that year.
Prior to this timeframe, I find only flops. This includes Furi's Ozitech in early 2010, the Ronco Ready Sharp in May 2011 and Tristar's Kleva Sharp -- which was actually the first sharpener like the Samurai Pro/Edge of Glory to be tried.
S7 Analysis: So what does all of that mean for this project? To be honest, I'm not sure. A unique knife sharpener like this one passes all of the product criteria, the category should be fairly uncrowded these days and the commercial hits all the right notes as well. If not for the checkered history, I'd give this one a thumbs up.
