Extreme product demos

In that post on humour yesterday I mentioned going for the "ohmygodyouneedtoseethis" reaction.  I think this is also where product demos are going to start moving.

The challenge is to find a way of demonstrating your product that doesn't just show off the benefit, but that's also extreme, surprising, weird, or funny enough that people will talk about it and seek it out.  I suspect that this is also a good test if you actually have a real difference in your product - if you can't find a truly extraordinary way of demonstrating it, it's probably not that real or important a difference.

The smart people at BlendTec, a maker of (what else?) blenders, have posted a series of videos on YouTube showing their blender demolishing various solid things like marbles, golf balls, a rake, Coke cans, and an entire rotisserie chicken. The videos have been viewed a few million times, and already inspired various spoofs and rip-offs.  There's a website as well, with a blog and a suggestion box on what else they should try to blend.

They've turned the basic product idea - tough blenders - into an engaging challenge: will it be able to blend this [insert weird thing here]?  And they make a point of mentioning that these videos only use their entry-level blender.  It's genius. 

via FutureLab

Comments

[Jason Lonsdale]

Adrants pointed this out yesterday -Taser International execs demoing their own product...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nitBMAuBy28

[Leland M]

This is hilarious. I think the game show music in the background really makes the spot. Plus the affirmation of the obvious at the end, "Yes, it blends" is classic!

[Jeffrey C]

Amazing.

[mattress]

http://perezhilton.com/topics/if_you_are/if_you_are_easily_offended_20061122.php