We’re surrounded by hype. Commercials, radio ads, billboards by the road and posters in the metro. Not to mention the ads on nearly every website, yes, including this one. Maybe a certain beer will make us more attractive or a car will make us the most envied family on the block. And we all know what the right shampoo will do.
Unfortunately, nothing seems to live up to the hype. Sure, our new cell phone is great but it’s not a life-changing gadget. Or we get a decent rest on our new mattress, but we’re not 100% comfortable.
Sometimes the hyped object completely fails–like a passenger on a Carnival cruise whose room smelled like sewage. Not quite what one would expect from the commercials. The Consumerist is full of stories of bad customer service, products, etc.
But…have you every had something actually live up to the hype?
Here’s my example. This will show you what an incredibly mature person I am. Last weekend, I decided that the Diva Cup was the best thing in the world (see here for why). So I was skipping and dancing and humming around the house.
It suddenly hit me “I’m one of those girls in commercials!” I’m like one of those girls who’s jumping around playing beach ball or giving you a happy look because maybe she uses a certain tampon or she’s got Midol, etc. Well, none of those have ever made me want to frolic, but the Diva Cup did the trick.
I’m glad too. For one thing, it’s nice to see something actually meet and exceed expectations. Even good products have a hard time doing that if they’re over-hyped. And second, it’s nice to have something which makes my life so much less miserable 5 days out of the month. When you add it up, that’s about 600 days in the last 10 years…which is almost 2 years. And in the upcoming howevermany years I’ve got until menopause, let’s say 25, 5 of them which would have been miserable, painful, and annoying are now going to be pretty decent. That’s worth skipping about.
(Of course, some people don’t like Diva Cups and Keepers…I hope they find a solution too.)
So have you ever had a product that actually made you as happy as the people in the commercial? Share share!
Print Friendly
{ 1 trackback }
{ 27 comments }
Ahahaha! For some time now I have been skipping around rather jubilant at that time of the month, just giddy with glee that I have this perfect solution, that is less mess, less irritation, no leaks, and less waste. I have to agree with you – the Diva cup is one of those products that just makes me incredibly happy. It’s improved my quality of life!
an iPod… i’m totally like those people in the billboard, a brilliant aura around my dancing silhouette, headphones on and ipod in hand.
Similar product! The Instead cups made me extremely happy when I found them. Also, recently bought a pair of Vibram Fivefingers and have been bouncing around in them enjoying the barefoot goodness!
LOL! I’m a fellow Diva. I got some reusable pads to try next month and hope they will turn out as great as the online reviews indicate.
I’m not the hugest beauty product gal, but I really like Prescriptives’ Vibrant-C undereye creme and their Instant Gratification face peel/scrub.
The OXO Good Grips food containers are really great. We have a large collection of them on display in our kitchen/living room. I was really ecstatic to find them since most of the canister type things out there are crap, but these are really nice.
But perhaps my favorite toy is my Helio Ocean “don’t call it a phone” phone. Seriously, it rocks. The service is a bit pricey if you’re a bare bones cell user, but the unlimited plan was actually cheaper than what I was paying Verizon for a lot less. I have unlimited internet, messaging, and of course talk. And the phone itself is a dual-slider with a full keyboard, a very decent video/still camera, a music player, and a lot of great apps including games, planning tools, Buddy Beacon, instant messaging, etc. etc. etc. And no, I don’t work for Helio.
I bought some honey & oat goats’ milk soap from http://www.oldredbarnco.com/ . It changed my skin type. I will be a customer for life
I’m with PiggyBankBlues… my ipod makes me happy. Great post. 🙂
My Chaco sandals- so comfortable, and I don’t have to worry about getting them dirty or wet, they are awesome, plus they actually adjust to my ridiculously narrow feet.
On a vain note, my ceramic hair straighteners, I have very thick, wavy, fluffy dry hair (my boyfriend says I look like a Golden Retriever) and these can tame my locks into shampoo advert silkyness in about 5 minutes. (Yes I know it’s not great for my hair and I don’t do it every day, but I love it when I do)
I’ll have to put in my vote that the iPod also lived up to the hype for me. I love using it while I’m cleaning and cooking in particular. I listen to and sing showtunes. I don’t know why my regular CD player (not DiscMan…which is too big for my pocket) doesn’t work the same.
Or listening to music without my computer running slowly because of extra programs.
But I think if I’d paid full price I might feel something was lacking.
I’m a cynic. Nothing ever lives up to the hype.
Wait, that’s not true – a restaurant I tried recently definitely did, as did a cute B&B. In fact, despite my super high expectations, they managed to exceed the hype!
And lately, not to get sappy, but my boyfriend has been living up to the hype! 😉
Left handed pie slice. As awesome as I ever thought it would be. Now all I need to make my life complete are some left handed cake forks.
Our Flavor Wave oven has by far exceeded my expectations.
@ Plonkee- my mum is a leftie and we seem to have more left handed pastry forks than right handed ones in her kitchen! I’m not sure where she got them but I have seen them at anythingleft-handed.co.uk
Hope you don’t mind me posting the link Mrs Micah, I just believe very strongly in equal-opportunity cake eating!
My employer. I work for a Fortune 500 firm that is one of the biggest employers in my state. They are always winning awards for being a great place to work (they’re in the top 25% on the Fortune 100 ‘Best Places’ list), they are highly ethical, the benefits are great, etc.
I had been hearing about how “great” they are since I was a child, and when I accepted a position there two years ago, I was expected to be disappointed, but it really is a fabulous place to work. They care about my career path, my health & wellness, work-life balance, etc.
The other thing, on the Diva Cup line, is the Nuva Ring. Changed. My. Life.
My Dyson vacuum cleaner.
My friends all joke I should be their spokesperson for all the raving I do about it.
Hmmm maybe I should devote a blog post to my beloved !
Ditto on both the iPod and the Dyson. Of course, both were gifts, but I think I’d love ’em just as much if I paid for them myself.
ErgoBaby baby carrier! I know the “babywearing” world is small, but in it, the Ergo gets talked up like no other carrier. With its hefty $92 price tag, I rejected the hype. Got one for my birthday, though, and I AM SOLD. Anyone who thinks they’ll babywear longer than the newborn stage should try it.
Gosh, girls you almost make me sorry that I don’t need one anymore. Almost… Does anything live up to the hype? Does that mean that after having it for 6 weeks, I am still as excited as when I bought it? Nothing that I can think of right off hand
The Harry Potter series. I jumped onto the bandwagon late, because I figured I’d be disappointed.
(And I love my Dyson and iPod.)
saw your comment on nutritionfitnesslife…wanted to swing by and say Im so glad for my daughters sake there are SO MANY hispanic dolls now!
Magic Maid microfiber cloths. My friends all thought I was shilling for the manufacturer when I nattered on about how great those things work!
My Hoover Floormate. I purchased it on sale at Kohl’s, and it was the best $$$ I have ever spent. We have a dog that makes a muddy mess of my floors. Swiffers just didn’t cut it, and it was a pain to fill a bucket of water on an almost daily basis. I can clean kitchen floor at least 3 times without having to refill and empty it. You just plug it in and basically vacuum. It’s faster, leaves your floors dry and uses much less water than a regular mop and bucket!
Not really a product, but shopping at farmers markets is awesome! Totally lived up to the hype for cheapness and variety.
And I love my iPod!
My Roomba! I love it so much I named it “Rufus”. It is hands-down the best vacuum I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot…we’re rough on them.
It works wonderfully on cat hair and even cat litter.
Also, my 1998 Toyota Camry. We bought it new in ’98 and it is still trucking along faithfully after 10 years and 175,000 miles. I’ve only had to keep up with regular maintenance, tires and brakes.
I can see how having a product can make one very happy if it fulfills something we want or need (the iPod the vacuum mentioned, etc). I can see that a particular premium brand of car might make us most envied. But how in the world can drinking certain brand of beer make us more attractive or desirable? How can using a certain brand of brandy put that starlet in our living room (to take the obvious message from a billboard that used to be near my house)?
I’m suspicious of all hype. But some is possible and the rest is nonsense.
I’m glad those of you who shared happy stories had positive experiences.
Also, modal, i.e. the fabric made from beeches. Modal undies are so nice — even the thongs. And we just got modal sheets at Bed Bath and Beyond for about the same price as some decent cotton sheets. The modal is waaaaaay nicer — really one of those simple luxuries that makes me feel like a princess. I’m never going to cotton sheets (though our other set is bamboo and those are very nice, too).
I remember a visit to a restaurant where I left totally and completely satisfied. The service was great and I loved my meal (and didn’t wish I had ordered something else like I usually do). That particular restaurant is always at the top of our list when we go out and we’ve always been pleased.
Tegaderm bandages by 3M
Olay Quench Therapy Concentrate for eczema
Starfrit lock containers for lunch boxes AND for storing stuff in general
OXO Mango slicer
OXO apple fruit slicer
MacBook Laptop with Windows Parallels
Comments on this entry are closed.