I had some trouble sleeping the other day and flipped on the TV for some background noise in the hopes that it would lull me to sleep. Not caring what was on at four in the morning because I wasn't planning to watch anyway, I left it on some paid programming and set the sleep timer for twenty minutes.
Unfortunately, the TV was playing an infomercial for the Heat Surge Fireplace. Normally I don't mind infomercials if I'm just trying to fall asleep, but this one managed to wake me right up.
Resolutely laying still with my eyes closed, I catch the words "the only fireplace handcrafted by the Amish."
Who came up with that slogan!? Suddenly I'm picturing Amish sweat shops for the first time in my life and I don't like it. Then I swear to God the lady says, "Entire Amish villages are straining to keep up with the demand!"
Now I'm seeing a Ben Hur style Amish slave boat. There are less than 250,000 Amish people in the United States. Just how many of these fireplaces are they planning to sell with their national TV ads? I hope no one in a weakened and sleep-deprived state falls for this lame marketing ploy.
(No offense, Heat Surge. It's clever using a group of people who won't be watching enough TV to call your bluff.)
The next night, I bumped into the infomercial again and saw the images that accompanied the audio. Wow.
Sadly I cannot find the exact version of the infomercial that I witnessed – but here is a similar video with somewhat less extreme imagery.
P.S.: I did some research. Only the wooden casing is made by the Amish (not shocking, since the Amish are not known as friends of electricity, and their homes do not have outlets), though I can find no discussion of how much involvement they have with it. I'm guessing that they receive the wood and simply apply varnish. Handmade is practically a myth in this day and age, and no serious company will waste time with it longer than they have to in order to make the "handmade" claim.
Also, I later spotted a print version of the ad headlined, "Amish Man's New Miracle Idea Helps Home Heat Bills Hit Rock Bottom," but the fine print admits that the invention is Chinese. No word on whether the electric components are also manufactured in China.
Lastly, the Amish wooden mantle does not seem to be included with the price of the fireplace, and must be purchased separately. Being an infomercial, of course the pricing is unclear, but it's the 21st century. News gets around.
Want to see my favorite commercial ever? Stay tuned for Olay Total Effects 7.
hahaha... There's something really ironic about an Amish Electric Fireplace. Who decided this was a good idea? "Hey, I picked up a few hundred of these hideous electric fireplaces, but they aren't selling" "Oh, I know, why don't you get the Amish to slap together a few wooden frames for it" "GENIUS!" I wonder how many of these have sold...
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of having them on wheels is pretty clever, but other than that, it's not a novel product in any way. I wonder how many have sold, too; I don't know of any way to find out.
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