So you know your advertising is effective if your 4 year old child gets it. I can't tell you how many times my 4 year old, Madeline, has told me that if you want to get a stain out, you have to use OxiClean. No joke. The kid is constantly asking me if I bought OxiClean (btw, they advertise during Spongebob--what a way to eat at a parent. Not only do I have to listen to this stuff when I watch TV, but now I have it coming at me from my kid).
So, if you've seen the OxiClean commercial, you're familiar with Billy Mays. The guy with the bad haircut and impossibly neat beard screaming at you to "GET YOUR STAINS OUT WITH OXICLEAN!!! Spilled wine is NO PROBLEM!!!" Billy Mays hocks several products on TV (his wikipedia entry states: "His high-energy approach to pitching an array of products has gained Mays a substantial amount of recognition." Yeah huh.) But one of the newer products he's out there selling is Zorbeez, the "MOST AMAZING MATERIAL I'VE EVER USED!!!"
However, if you're up and up on your super absorbent microfiber cloths, than you may be aware that Zorbeez has a competitor: Shamwow (God, I wish I could make stuff like this up!). BUT, Shamwow does not have Billy Mays--Shamwow has some cheesy guy--Vince--in a headset. The commercials are so eerily similar, Mattio though Shamwow was a spoof commercial; actually, he said he kept waiting for the Geico logo to come up at the end.
Quite frankly, I didn't think the world was big enough for 2 super absorbent products--but who knew? Oh, and if you're wondering... Zorbeez looks like the better deal.
7 comments:
I hear what you're saying about OxyClean. My daughter was on me FOREVER to get Debbie Meyer Green Bags. The conversation would go like this: 'Dad, do you want to save money?' 'Uh... yeah... why?' 'Well, you would save a LOT of money if you use Debbie Meyer Green Bags!'
I bought a set of them just to see and they do seem to work somewhat. So, yes, I succumbed to advertising, with an assist to my five-year-old daughter.
Just saw the tacky infomercial for ShamWow, and the product looks eerily similar to the crap that Billy Mays is hawking in the form of Zorbee. I fell for the Zorbee advertisement and when the stuff was delivered I found that it looked more like sheets of felt than anything capable of super-absorbency. I attempted to use Zorbee on my car and found myself picking little strands of the stuff off the freshly washed surface. Zorbee is definitely not worth the price and I suspect that ShamWow will turn out to be "ScamWow".
I've read several comments from folks that said they have tried both the ShamWow and the Zorbees and the ShamWow works MUCH BETTER!
My son gave me some...he ordered two sets. Darn thing works like a champ!
Actually if you look at the info closely Shamwow is guaranteed for 10 years while the Zorbeez people send you new ones every 60 days or some such and you have to pay $6.98 shipping and handling. To me, the price and quality of the Shamwow product is a lot better deal. It's a well-woven microfiber cloth and I'd recommend it to anyone.
I actually like Vince. Well, maybe "like" is a strong word, but I do get a kick out of him. The guy is ridiculously arrogant but still manages to not come off like a total douche-bag.
There has to be something to be said about a guy that actually makes you feel like you did something wrong fro not buying his product.
The great thing about the ShamWOW commercial is the almost-max-headroomy chain-smokey-barfly-cheesey "Vince" saying "Made in Germany...You know the Germans Make Good stuff..."
Hmmm yeah you're right... Ok I'll take one.
I think this thing will make a fortune... BTW microfiber chamois have been around a long time. I sold printed T-shirts at fairs and carnivals 30 years ago and there was always a guy with a booth selling the same thing - in 1978 they were $5 not $20... but they really do work, and if ShamWOW is anything like those - they do last (I still have some of them kicking around)
Hey - have you seen the diving competitions at the Olympics yet? As soon as they get out of the pool - I swear they are all using ShamWows, just like Vince said!
Don't you get the feeling that our Vince has a big bottle of Maalox sitting on his nightstand?
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