Sighting on television

[Jackofalltrades]

I don't know if this is the proper place but I need to get this off of my chest:

I was at the bowling alley last night when an infomercial came on. It was for a bottle-top add-on for soda cans. See it here at www.bottletops.tv

I started to flip my shit. I almost started to cry it was so bad. On top of that, they also had a soda can opener if people can't open a soda can. If people can't open a damned soda can!

I get that it may be practical if you are an invalid, but they were showing regular, physically fit and fairly pretty people, who couldn't figure out how to open a soda can and pour it out without spilling on themselves.

I admit I am coming off as crazy and irrational, but think about it. We invented the fucking pop top can. We are devolving as a species if there are more than a few people who think this is a smart purchase.

Mark my words, if I ever see someone who is over the age of 6 and under the age of 80 and can physically and mentally understand the concept of a pop-top can, I will take that damned thing and smash it. And them, and then curl up in the fetal position and cry.

[Stormraven]

Unfortunately, that's pretty common in advertising. Take an action that people perform successfully throughout the world on a regular basis and make it look like no one other than a superman could hope to pull it off properly. Then introduce what you're selling as the solution.

From straining pasta to opening pop top cans, if they can convince you that their product is easier than what you currently do, they'll try.

That said, I've seen that infomercial, and in one respect, I like the product. Working with computers, I'd love to have something like that so I wouldn't have to worry about knocking over a soda can near the computer.

[Jackofalltrades]

But that is why we invented the plastic bottle. Because they close and don't break.

I work in IT and I have cups and cans of soda around me all day, and I have never spilled anything on a computer.

Granted, for a bike, it is a good idea, but by the time you open it, the soda would be flat.

[PepperElf]

now personally i don't mind the idea of a resealable top for a soda can

but no i wouldn't buy that.


i'm just remembering the soda i use to drink when i was in japan....

ooo i finally found some photos of them. Yes those are metal cans. yes they're re-closeable. I wish they had them in the states to be honest.


http://img17.yfrog.com/img17/4487/editjapancan.jpg

[morgana]

The bottletop things aren't a bad idea, especially for kids.

The other thing, for opening pop-top cans, well, I have long artificial nails. I've gotten used to finding a tool to open a pop-top because sometimes lifting the pop-ring will pop the nails. However, I've never needed a *specific* tool for that. All sorts of things will work. (spoon, fork, coin, bottle cap, push-pin, key . . .)

Stormraven's got it pegged. Introduce a fake need, then bill your product as the BEST, the ONLY answer!!!!!eleventy!! And some moron will buy it.

[Teskeria]

personally I prefer (and have/use) these:

http://www.mileskimball.com/MilesKim...tID=0000067035

They work just as well to keep bugs out ect.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I was at the bowling alley last night when an infomercial came on. It was for a bottle-top add-on for soda cans. See it here at www.bottletops.tv

This first thing I thought when I watched the ad was "Oh good, it can wash the rat piss off the top of the can while I drink it." The linked urban legend says that rats urinate on the tops of soda cans while they are stored in warehouses.

As far as the usefullness of the product, if you can't finish a can of soda, buy the bottle version instead. It comes with a resealable top. And you can get bottles as small as 8 oz. I can rememebr when the standard size bottle was 6 oz.

[jedimaster91]

Oh yeah. I've seen the ad for those and I actually thought they were kinda cool. But I don't think I'd ever buy them. Even for kids, pour the soda in the sippy cup. At that age, they don't care if it's flat.

And I like the wasp-keeper-outer thing, too. At picnics I'm so paranoid I'm going to swallow a wasp and die a horrible anaphalactic death (slightly allergic. Not enough to need an epi pen or anything, but getting stung in the throat would be bad).

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'd buy something like that, and I can open soda cans just fine.

I do, sometimes, get klutzy and spill, so that's where the bottle tops would come in handy. Plus it can keep bugs and stingy wasps and hornets out of my can of soda.

[Merriweather]

It was for a bottle-top add-on for soda cans. See it here at www.bottletops.tv

On top of that, they also had a soda can opener if people can't open a soda can. If people can't open a damned soda can!

Ok, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. When it comes to gadgets, often the most ludicrous sounding ones still have some people that love them for reasons you might never come up with.

On the soda can topper -

I often want only half a can of soda, would love to have a topper I could put on one to put it in the fridge and have the rest later without it going flat. So if the topper actually works as advertised (a big if) it would be great. Yes, soda also comes in bottles - but often only the cases of cans are part of a great sale, so it's nice to be able to buy whatever packaging is cheapest that week. Also, though I've never in all my years using computers (and it's a lot of years, LOL) spilled anything on a keyboard, I do know a lot of people who just aren't as lucky or co-ordinated - and sometimes cans are all they can get at work. I've also been on picnics or other places where uneven tables (or lack of tables), rowdy kids, animals, etc. cause lots of spills from cans, and cans may be the only containers available. So yeah, I can see where those things (IF they work well) could be usefull. Not essential, just useful.

And on the can opener -

Ok, I have a nifty little gadget I got free from some promotion, it's on a keychain, I keep it hanging on the front of the fridge. I love it. My nails are very weak, and break easily. If they've broken recently, often they're down so far I have no nail to slide under the poptop. And if they're long, and I try using them to open the poptop, often they break off or bend backward (and anyone with weak nails will tell you that can be downright painful). Having a little gadget handy is a tiny bit easier than scrounging for a knife or whatever. Once again, useful, not essential.

There are plenty of gadgets I don't buy cause to me they aren't worth the bother of the tiny bit of convenience they provide - others, I use and would hate to be without (but I would cope). Same goes for everyone I know, most have a few gadgest they love, others they think useless, and it differes from person to person.

Yeah, I laugh at a lot of the ads for gadgets, but somewhere, there's probably someone who has used it and decided it makes life easier for them, enough to swear by it.

That said, I still can't come up with a use for anyone in the universe to have a chia pet, LOL.

[mikoyan29]

spilling soda on a computer reminds me of a SNL sketch from years ago...."The Pepsi Syndrome".

[Jackofalltrades]

Not to sound rude, but the purpose of evolution is to weed out genetically inferior traits. If you have weak nails, breaking them enough times will strengthen them. Using things like the top popper further debilitates our species.

I know I am getting into what seems like a pointless discussion, but think about it. For thousands of years, people got by on bare essentials. In the case of cans: people opened them with no problems until someone decided to get lazy and use a tool. Then everyone started using the tool instead of their fingers. Now there is a specific tool for only opening pop top cans. Where does it go next?

[ferebee]

It goes here, JackofallTrades - Every year Tim Hortons in Canada does it's Roll up the Rim to Win contest - Instant win prizes hidden under the rim of the coffee cup. Somebody apparently thought this was too hard and invented the Rimroller to roll up those insanely difficult pieces of rolled cardboard.

A silly gadget expressly produced for a contest that runs for a few weeks once a year.

Go Canada, I guess.

[Seshat]

That said, I still can't come up with a use for anyone in the universe to have a chia pet, LOL.

Is the grooved terracotta an easier-than-normal way to grow herbs and useful grasses? If so, that's a good reason.

Not to sound rude, but the purpose of evolution is to weed out genetically inferior traits. If you have weak nails, breaking them enough times will strengthen them. Using things like the top popper further debilitates our species.

Actually, that's not how the evolution works.

If I have a trait which reduces my ability to secure a mate and breed children, I am less likely to have children than someone without that trait. Ergo, the next generation is less likely to have the trait.

Evolution isn't an individual thing, it's a generational thing. It's not survival of the fittest individual, it's survival of the fittest couple's children. Or rather, it's that couple which is most likely to have children.

[Red_Dazes]

I gotta say... while I probably wouldn't buy it... I do think it is kind of nifty to have something you could put on your soda can to keep it "Fresh" for a little longer. Though once you open a soda it's gonna go flat no matter what. But I often don't have enough time to finish even a can of soda in one sitting... so that makes it a bit more appealing.

...but that popper thing... >< good grief...