What Are They Selling?

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday.
My Background
What I Do
About Brown & Martin, Inc.

When Automated Bathrooms Don't Work

Isn't public bathroom technology great? Automated faucets. Automated soap dispensers. Toilets that flush by themselves. Urinals that flush by themselves. Hand-wave controlled towel dispensers. It's a germaphobe's paradise ... except for when these wonders of technology don't work. Which is what happens in this commercial for Alaska Airlines. I love it when the guy puts his hands under the facet and the urinal flushes. Ha! Funny and a good way to tout the airline's "airport of the future."  Click here or on the photo to see the 30 second spot. Really, it's funny.

Another in Our Series of "What Are They Selling?"

I was going to challenge you to watch this 20 second commercial and correctly guess what it was selling before the ad ended.  Sadly the company has removed it from YouTube. However the photo above, which is from the commercial, should give you an idea of the gist of the ad ... and you wouldn't have correctly guessed what it's selling.

The commercial is/was for Homz, an ultra modern ironing board that "has the contours of the human body." It rotates, which the company claims can cut ironing time in half. The thing has so many features that it's like the iPhone of ironing. I want one! And I'd really like to see the commercial again.

Action/Adventure Puppet Film Preview

While I'd like to say, "This is just wrong," the truth is if you're into puppets, this is pretty darn funny. Jim Hensons Resident Evil 5 (warning: link contains minor puppet-related gore and has nothing to do with Jim Henson) is a clever little puppet video on IGN. I love the parts where the hero puppet uses a handgun with a laser site on it to shoot evil-doers. Expect to see more videos like this featuring puppets from FAO's Schwartz's Muppet Whatnot Workshop. (If you want to purchase your own Muppet-like character, or a puppet for someone else, this is the place to go.)

Coupon Web Sites See 192% Increase

One area where consumers aren't cutting back: coupon usage. Coupons.com reported a 192% increase in the value of coupons printed from its site in March, compared with a year ago. The total value of the coupons was $57 million.

Coupons have been the second-most-visited category on the Internet -- behind jobs -- for about a year. Coupons.com had the biggest share of the category, with 6.6 million unique visitors, up 29% from 5 million the year before. Eversave.com came in second, with 5.5 million unique visitors in February.

Worst LP Covers Ever
Okay, a reader has managed to top our "Trees Talk Too" LP featuring Geraldine and Ricky.

Here is the LP cover for Dan Betzer and Louie ...

and Harry and Terry Live.  By the way, if Harry thinks Terry is "Live" then Harry needs help.  And just how hard can it be to be a ventriloquist on a record?!
 

Thanks for the Good Wishes
Thanks to all of my readers who sent "Get Well" wishes to Dale following his hand surgery earlier this week.  The surgery appears to have gone well and I should be able to turn my head, open my mouth and move my eyes in about three weeks. (Unfortunately, Dale has a hand in everything I do.) But you could give Dale a gift while he's recuperating. Vote for this blog on the "Bloggers Choice" web site. I know it will help make Dale feel better ... and it could help secure my position as "blog writer" for another year. 

As of Wednesday, out of 188 marketing-related blogs, popular vote put the Chip Martin Blog in first place! (I'll pause here to give you a moment to let out a cheer.) ...

But I'm only ahead by two votes. Obviously, I'm going to need more.  Show Dale and the rest of the country that people actually read this blog, by taking a minute to vote. Vote from home, vote from work, vote for your dead uncle and ask your friends and family to vote.

Billboard of the Month
And finally, a clever phrase that produces a good visual in the minds of readers makes this billboard for a fishing lure by Shores, one my favorites for the month.