Fushigi Ball – A Marketing Review
The art of juggling has been around for thousands of years, even dating back to the days of ancient Egypt.
Juggling was also used by street performs during the Middle Ages in Europe, and it has been associated with circus acts since around the 1770s. It takes serious hand-eye coordination and a tremendous amount of practice to become proficient at juggling small objects. Juggling larger items and making an entertaining show out of it takes years of practice.
For many of us, we either don’t have the coordination or don’t want to take the time to learn the skill. I’ll admit that juggling doesn’t rank high on my list of new skills to learn.
What if you were to manipulate one or more objects but not toss them into the air? Would that still be considered juggling or even as entertaining as “real” juggling?
Enter the Fushigi ball.
Enter the world of contact juggling.
Fushigi ball website — www.FushigiBall.com
Let’s take a look at the Fushigi ball TV commercial and see if they’re pushing the concept or the product.
Fushigi ball — TV commercial
Oh wow! Didn’t that just look awesome?
Fushigi commercial – It’s FUSHIGI!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
The commercial starts out by showing us the Fushigi ball in action. According to the Fushigi ball’s website, this ball is essentially a double sphere with the inner ball coated with clear acrylic. Remember that the more shiny, sparkly, and reflective you keep the surface of the ball, then the more ooohs and ahhhhhs you’ll receive from the audience.
In those first few seconds we see professionals glide the Fushigi ball over their hands and across their arms. Remember that the surface of the ball is so clear and shiny that we don’t actually see it rotate as it rolls around. Hence the trick with impressing the audience.
Fushigi commercial – OMG it’s like so cool and amazing!
It’s like the coolest thing ever! OMG! Holy cow!
The chick on the left seems to be just a little bit too excited when learning how to use the Fushigi ball, especially when she tells us that she can do “it.” She claims to have no idea what it is (that part is believable), but damn it, it’s cool! And apparently “. . . it’s the coolest thing ever.”
That’s good enough for me! I’m sold! /s
Okay, okay. No more sarcasm. Well, no more for now. I might throw around some more of it later just for my own personal entertainment.
Fushigi commercial – The mighty Tim Goewey.
Next we’re introduced to the salesman, Tim Goewey, and his amazing Fushigi performers.
[wait for applause]
Tim claims that they’re “. . . going to show you how to unlock the secrets of Fushigi, the magic gravity ball.” If you’re hoping to learn how to unlock those mystical secrets during the commercial, well, that’s not exactly going to happen. Those secrets are most likely revealed in the how-to video included with the purchase of a Fushigi ball through the company’s website. After all, if you knew the secret in the TV commercial, chances are that you would NOT purchase the product.
Instead of teaching us the secret, we’re instead treated to more video of professionals handing the Fushigi balls. We see them roll the balls over the fingers, hands and arms, and even grip the balls in certain ways to simulate the illusion of magic. Remember that this effect is enhanced because of the crystal clear outer layer and highly reflective inner layer within the sphere. If you were to drop or scratch the Fushigi ball, the mark on the outside of the ball would give away the effect.
Tim’s claim of “no tricks” is a bit of a lie because the appearance of magic and levitation is a trick itself. Perhaps the biggest trick is not dropping or cracking the ball.
“Magic? Maybe. An illusion? You decide!”
Come on! Are you really suggesting that this product might be magical? Really? Do you also have a wand for sale or perhaps even a flying broomstick? Chinese baoding balls are more “magical” than a Fushigi ball.
The commercial goes on and we’re shown more and more examples of “tricks” you can do with the Fushigi, all while Tim Goewey gets all excited about the product. His claims about it “defying gravity” and other crap keep sounding more and more outrageous. Just watch the demonstrations and you’ll see how the ball pretty much never loses contact with the performer’s fingers. Yeah, that’s real magical.
Fushigi commercial – “I get it now!“
No commercial like this is complete without people’s reactions, and sure enough, everybody in the Fushigi commercial just seems to love and be amazed by the Fushigi ball. My favorite part is when this girl claims, “I get it now!” (referring to the trick), and suddenly the scene cuts to something else. Oops! Did the commercial screw up and “accidentally” show somebody learning that the Fushigi ball really doesn’t float in the air around your hands and arms? Not really. This is just another attempt to get people excited for the product and its entertaining results. The average person should know that this does not involve magic and the sphere really does not fly through the air.
Tim Goewey’s claims about mystifying and confusing friends is also a little bit far fetched. I’m aware that contact juggling isn’t nearly as popular as toss juggling (or as hard to master), and it being re-introduced to the market can catch some people off guard. Perhaps the confusing part that Tim is referring to are people wondering why you didn’t learn to juggle items in the air. Personally, I’d rather impress my friends with huge winnings at a blackjack table or learning how to make profitable investments in the stock markets.
Fushigi commercial – IT’S AMAZING!!! I LOVE IT!!! ME TOO!!!
The Fushigi TV commercial reaches a new low when it has this girl who had too many cups of coffee yell, “IT’S AMAZING!” Tim Goewey yells back, “I LOVE IT!,” and the girl answers by yelling, “ME TOO!”
Rule #1 – Never have the salesman yell like that in the commercial. He looks like an idiot when doing so, and his yelling insults us, the consumers. Hell, he’s not even using the product. He’s just yelling like a jackass.
Rule #2 – Avoid having extremely happy or hyper people like the girl that Tim is “interviewing.” It’s way too obvious that her reaction is fake. This is a ball for contact juggling for cryin’ out loud, not a vibrator.
After this lamest of scenes we see an older woman telling us about how much she thinks her sixteen-year-old grandson would enjoy a Fushigi ball. Yeah, I’m sure he’d be eternally delighted by such an object. At an age when teenagers are learning how to drive, working part-time jobs, and exploring their world, I’m sure they would be thrilled to stay at home and practice contact juggling. Right. There is a reason why a lot of presents from grandma end up in a box stored in a closet until they are sold, re-gifted, or donated to an organization.
Fushigi commercial – Snoop Dogg cameo
And just who is this at the end of the Fushigi TV commercial? Snoop Dogg? Notice how he’s just saying the name of the product and not using it himself. It doesn’t even look like he’s watching a demonstration of the product. He’s just there saying its name. That’s it.
In the end we’re hit with the sales pitch. If we call and order now (or go through the company’s website), when purchasing the Fushigi we’ll also receive a how-to DVD and learn how to mystify and amaze our friends. And the total cost of the item, the freebie, and the shipping and handling is . . . . . . . . . . the total cost is . . . . . . . .
It’s what? Unknown until we actually place the order? Great.
What we do know is that the product itself costs $19.99. We also know that there’s still a P&H charge for the item as well as an additional P&H charge for the “free” how-to DVD. Oddly enough those charges are nowhere to be found on the company’s website. Even the ordering screen does NOT list the total cost of the items until AFTER you submit your credit card information.
Should it also be a concern that there are grammatical errors throughout the company’s website? I know many people don’t care about grammar, but I see it as a sign that perhaps the company is trying to pull a fast one on the public. If these people misspell their own product, how badly do they care about selling us a quality product versus just throwing together a quick and, IMHO, shitty looking website? Couldn’t they find somebody to check their work and make sure that things are consistent throughout the website?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Contact juggling is nothing new. It’s not nearly as popular or entertaining as regular “toss” juggling (especially when performed with bloody chainsaws, rabid gerbils, or flaming torches), but with contact juggling, the tricks can be completed with a single ball. Take note that contact juggling still requires a good amount of dexterity and lots of practice before you are anywhere near as good as the professionals in the TV commercial.
It’s not explained in the commercial, but the Fushigi’s website tells us that the Fushigi ball is special because it’s two balls in one. With the clear outer ball and reflective inner ball, performing the tricks properly can make it appear that other forces are at work moving the ball rather than your fingers and hands. Otherwise, this is just contact juggling with a special ball having a unique name.
That, my friends, brings us to my biggest problem with this TV commercial.
Notice how often people say the product’s name — Fushigi. Some people yell it. Others laugh when saying it. Others even sound mystified when saying its name. But we keep hearing Fushigi over and over and over in the TV commercial. FUSHIGI!!!
The name Fushigi makes it sound like this product is from Japan. Is it? I don’t know. Brief research didn’t find the origin of the product. I’d like to believe that if this was from the far east, then we’d know about it in the commercial. With a name like Fushigi, it would help sell the product if it was mentioned that this is something trendy from the far east. Since it’s not mentioned in the TV commercial or on the company’s website, I doubt that Fushigi is from Japan.
The focus of the TV commercial is more on the product’s name than the product itself. That’s a big warning right there. We also see lots of footage of professionals using the product. Pros. Those people who have a natural ability and have spent a great deal of time practicing the moves. Not kids. Not seniors. Not even teenagers. Of course this looks easy when a professional demonstrates the product.
This commercial has bad news written all over it. From the obsession over the product’s NAME to the anybody-can-do-it-as-long-as-they-practice-for-an-hour-or-two-each-day attitude, this commercial is trying too hard to appeal to the general public.
Chinese meditation balls
When it comes to using contact juggling techniques for massage or relaxation purposes, I’d rather start with Chinese meditation balls (a.k.a. baoding balls) before working up to something like a Fushigi ball. But that’s just me.
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All of the Fushigi commercial images were screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on Youtube. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.FushigiBall.com.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Fushigi.