April 05, 2012

Review: HD Vision Cristal

Description: Rose-colored sunglasses
Main Pitch: "Specially tinted, crystal-clear lenses that give you an incredibly brighter view of the world"
Main Offer: $19.99 for one
Bonus: 2nd pair absolutely free
Marketer: IdeaVillage
Producer: Morgan James
Website: www.HDCristal.com
Prediction: Unlikely to succeed

I think the unprecedented run of HD Vision (four successful SKUs) ends here. I guess it had to end sometime. It seems the marketer has run out of meaningful twists to put on a pair of sunglasses. Wraparounds, Readers and even Aviators I get (although styling alone usually isn't enough), but Cristal? Rose-colored lenses? That's a line extension too far.

Complicating matters is the increased price of these sunglasses relative to the other versions in the line, and the fact that this commercial is very close in positioning and format to most of the spots that came before it. The sunglasses themselves are also very hard to distinguish from the existing Ultras. Perhaps there is a retail play of some sort here, but I don't see this one doing well on DRTV.