March 07, 2014

Weekly Round-Up


Old Gold? Nope.

  1. InstaBrites. Marketer: Spark Innovators. Producer: NexTV. Pitch: "Super-bright LED light goes on automatically when you open and off when you close." Comments: If not for the 'fast fail,' this would have been another "Old Gold?" feature. (I did add it to my list.) The original was Allstar's Quik Brite, and it was No. 77 on the JW Annual for 2006. Come to think of it, that's probably not a high enough JW rank to warrant an attempt to bring it back. [ss]
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  3. Glowy Guardian. Marketer: Hampton. Pitch: "The solar-powered garden light that's an amazing, hand-crafted replica of the majestic, white snowy owl." Comments: Another 'fast fail.' Strikes me as a total flyer, so I'm not surprised. (Link goes to spot.) [ss]
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  5. Gwee. Pitch: "Keep your electronic devices sparkling clean and smudge-free." Comments: Bad category, crowded category, low on the problem scale. This one should never have made it past the evaluation phase. [ss]
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  7. Shelf Under. Marketer: Spark Innovators. Producer: Monte-Brooks. Pitch: "The instant shelf that doubles your cabinet space." Comments: Anything that creates extra space has a shot on DRTV, but my impression is that similar solutions haven't done well. Allstar's Handy Shelf, which I liked, is one example that comes to mind. [ss]
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  9. Walk Right Insoles. Pitch: "Liquid filled massaging insoles." Comments: No insole has ever worked on short-form DRTV, no matter how good the product (see Impact Gel). Resist the call of the Siren! [ss]