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Thursday, May 28, 2009

But will it really do that?

Ian is a marketer's dream. He almost has me convinced that if I buy him the "Touch N Brush" he will willingly brush his teeth, not one but two times a day! The Touch N Brush is the incredibly simple invention of putting a plastic container around a tube of toothpaste and adhering it to the wall. You put your toothbrush under the opening and get the exact right amount of toothpaste needed. And all for the low, amazing price of $19.99.

These infomercial people are brilliant. They run the same commercial over and over again on an all kids' tv channel until the child can miraculously convince you that you need to buy this item right now! Ian will even add in a few of his own benefits of why he needs it that the commercial misses. "But Mommy, I can even put my step stool right under it and easily reach it with my Diego toothbrush."

A few months ago, PBS Sprout was running a carpet cleaner ad. Ian did a great job of promoting this one to me. "Look, it will even make your white carpets sparkling clean! We need that, don't we?" "And it works great on area rugs too." "Can we get it, please? Oh please?"

These marketers must have gotten a great deal on the frequency run. It seems like the commercials are running the same ad every 10 minutes. Ian is like a sponge and absorbing it all. We'll be in Bed, Bath and Beyond and he'll see the same exact product they are advertising and start telling me all about it. And of course, why we need it.

I fear for the day when Ian realizes they have a "As Seen On Tv" store already in malls around the country. I am sure in no time he'll be asking to go there instead of Toys R Us.

1 comment:

  1. That's funny, but not surprising, the salesmanship gene runs in your family. Lori once convinced me to buy Gap chapstick when I went in to buy jeans from her during a promotion. She also was the only one to sell the "pressure pucks" for senior economics--we all just gave her ours to sell. Start him young, he can foray his salesman ability to politics someday.

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