Wacky inventions … who buys these things?
I have always found humour in wacky inventions. For me they existed before the internet, when Dad occasionally bought ‘Exchange and Mart’ if he was thinking of replacing his old car. It was within these flimsy pages that I noticed such things as The Big Slipper that was taken up by Billy Connolly (google it – there’s a video!) I was also intrigued by a Blackhead Zapper – with some vague diagram that suggested a syringe without a needle … it appeared to work by planting the open end over the zit and then pulling until the zit popped and the debris landed in the barrel of the syringe! I also recall a Body Massaging Wand – recommended for sporting injuries but with small print advice that it was for external use only …
These days, well, nothing has really changed, except there are images available for me to download from the internet and take the mickey out of …
Here are some of the funniest I’ve seen lately:
“Create extra storage in busy bathrooms by utilising the wasted space over the toilet.”
Who (apart from a double-jointed acrobat) thinks the space over the toilet is wasted? Surely the space over the toilet during standing use is so that men can see where they’re aiming without having to bend over backwards? And for sitting use, in my experience, the space over the toilet is where my head goes. I did wonder if you were supposed to move the scaffolding out of the way on each visit – but looking carefully at the picture it appears that the lower horizontal bar has been fitted behind. See what I mean? No way of easily shifting it aside!
Here’s the next one:
“Maximise your storage with this fantastic set of four fridge drawers.”
Marvellous! How ‘fantastic’! How exactly are we maximising storage space by placing the containers we keep in the fridge into a larger container that has a big sticky-out handle? These are advertised as ‘currently sold out‘, even though they are £19.99 for a set of four … so lots of people must be buying them. Really?
This one takes the biscuit, maybe … unless it really does only do eggs or beans:
“Choose between fried, poached or boiled eggs using the interchangeable trays, or alternatively use it to heat beans”
If only I had space on my worktop … but what if I wanted to heat up soup instead of doing beans or cooking eggs? Would that be okay, or maybe this thing can only manage eggs and beans? Not sure I could be bothered with the washing up that the interchangeable trays might generate.
Next we have the Ear Cleaner … well, two Ear Cleaners because if you buy one you get one free , so that “two family members can have their own Ear Cleaner!”
Each Ear Cleaner requires 2 AA batteries (not supplied)
The dog in the picture below has been zipped into a bag! He does look rather hot and panicky, and I start to hyperventilate if I look at this for too long. How the heck is he standing? Maybe someone propped him up and then stepped back and quickly took the photo? “Good boy!”
Perhaps I should mention that the idea of this … invention is that if your dog goes outside and gets wet and muddy you simply zip him up inside this thing and leave him to dry – so that he doesn’t bring any muck into the house!
I read some funny reviews. One customer was dissatisfied because the bag had left pink fluff on their white dog 🙂
Another was very pleased not to have to clean out the motor-home after the dog had been in it. Maybe you should get a stuffed dog next time!
Word on a Whim 