Aluma Wallet — A Marketing Review

When it comes to wallets and money holders, normally you think of something made of leather, squarish in shape, and a device that folds open in a variety of ways.  They’re usually stylish, comfortable and easy to carry, and they do a great job holding a number of credit cards and large quantity of cash.

What happens when you radically change the shape of a wallet and give it an aluminum skin?

The answer, my friends, is something called the Aluma Wallet.

Aluma Wallet website — www.AlumaWallet.com

I first saw the TV commercials for this product almost a year ago.  The commercials stopped and I actually forgot about it until a new version of the TV commercial began airing.  The Aluma Wallet is back for more!

Original version of the Aluma Wallet TV commercial.

Didn’t that TV commercial just make you want to whip a credit card out of your pathetic excuse for a wallet and get this new fancy one instead?

Or not really?

Let’s take a closer look at the Aluma Wallet TV commercial and see just what they’re saying.

The TV commercial starts out in a typical fashion by showing exaggerated examples of people who literally have no common sense and yet can still function in today’s society.

Or maybe not.

I don’t know.  These are actors just doing as they’re told in front of a camera.

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — Is it wise to fold credit cards?

Up first we see some scientist who thought it was a good idea to not only keep a credit card in a front pocket, but to also FOLD it as well.  Gee, why doesn’t he just chew on it while he’s at it?

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — The joy of an overstuffed wallet.

This next part is actually a dramatization performed poorly, and in doing so, it misses a valid selling point.

If this commercial really wanted to show the problem of overstuffed wallets being uncomfortable in the rear pocket (a common problem until it’s time to clean the wallet), all it had to do was show an ordinary person with a really fat wallet in his rear pocket.  That’s it.

The problem here is that we know this scene is B.S.  This man’s rear pocket still has plenty of room for the wallet.  Look at the room on both sides of it.  Notice how much of the wallet is still being exposed.  The solution to fixing this guy’s problem is simple—just push down on the wallet.  It’ll be uncomfortable while sitting, but it’ll still fit in the rear pocket.

Seinfeld – “The Reverse Peephole” – George’s exploding wallet

Of course, when talking about hilariously fat wallets, “The Reverse Peephole” episode of Seinfeld comes to mind.  One of the subplots in that episode involves Kramer having Jerry switch to using a money clip instead of a wallet, and George being proud of his incredibly overstuffed wallet.

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — Trying to prove physics wrong.

In one of the most ridiculous scenes in the TV commercial, here a woman is trying to stuff a massive wallet into a tiny purse.  Obviously, and I’m talking about the bleeding obvious here, the wallet is not going to fit without splitting open the purse.  I doubt purchasing a new wallet will really help this woman and her mental issues.

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — Introducing the Aluma Wallet!

It’s the Aluma Wallet, your simple solution to those peskiest of wallet problems!

But can the Aluma Wallet help those people who think it’s okay to fold credit cards?

How about those men who can’t push a wallet into their back pockets, or women who try to stuff massive wallets into tiny purses?  Can those mentally “gifted” people be helped with the Aluma Wallet?

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — Simply INDESTRUCTIBLE!

Having anger issues?

Look no further than the Aluma Wallet.  According to its TV commercial, you can drive over the aluminum wallet with a vehicle and not damage it.  Amazing!

Exactly how many people this would actually benefit is unknown, but, by golly, you can drive right over the device.  Isn’t that just awesome?

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — Marvel at its accordian-style design.

Not being able to open like a normal wallet, the Aluma Wallet instead features an accordian-style method of opening and holding your crap.  I just wonder how well of a grip each “sleeve” has on the contents.  For example, if you put a single credit card into a holder and accidentally turn the Aluma Wallet upside down, is the card in any danger of falling out of it?

Then again, how many times do you have to fold a single dollar bill before it can fit in the Aluma Wallet?

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — And just how much crap can the thing hold?

Here’s one of the most important selling points of the Aluma Wallet.

Despite its smaller size and limited accordian-style holding system, just how much stuff can you cram into the Aluma Wallet?  I mean, if you pay for something with a twenty-dollar bill and receive a bunch of bills in change, can you fit all of them into the Aluma Wallet?  How about things like receipts, movie/concert tickets, and things of that nature?

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — A splish, a splash, you can practically give the Aluma Wallet a bath!

Believe it or not, but we’ve stumbled across another valid selling point in the Aluma Wallet TV commercial.

Personally, I don’t like having a wet wallet.  Whenever I go on a water ride and get soaking wet, my wallet usually gets wet too to my dislike.  Fortunately, most of my wallet’s contents stay relatively dry.  The wet wallet itself, however, is still annoying.

This TV commercial is claiming that the Aluma Wallet is water resistant.  We don’t know how well the Aluma Wallet would do when completely submerged in water, or how hard the person in the commercial is holding it closed.  But the fact that the aluminum wallet claims to be water resistant is interesting.

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — The aluminum helps shield from RFID readers.

Here’s yet another valid selling point for the Aluma Wallet.

The aluminum exterior of the Aluma Wallet helps shield your radio frequency identification (RFID) credit and ID cards from people unethically using handheld RFID scanners (skimmers) and seeing the card’s information, such as its name, account number and expiration date.

Is this security issue a real threat though to most consumers?

Depending on which article you read, the credit card companies are well aware of such threats and have been taking preventative steps to help better secure their encryption methods.  Of course, this isn’t fail safe, and people still need to have at least a basic understanding of personal security and know how to spot discrepancies on their credit card statements.

But yes, aluminum does help shield and better protect credit cards that use RFID technology.  As far as passports with RFID chips, best of luck trying to stuff one into an Aluma Wallet.  You’re going to need a larger device to shield your passport.  😉

Aluma Wallet TV commercial — Those ‘other’ metal wallets are on sale!

Woah, woah, woah!

Do you mean to tell me that I can order two of those “other” metal wallets for only $54.95 each?  Wow!

If a supposedly high quality metal wallet is that expensive, then the Aluma Wallet would probably cost about $50 each, right?  Or would it be even higher?

Aluma Wallet TV commercial —  Only two Aluma Wallets for only $10.  (NOTE – This is an old promotion.  The current offer is for two Aluma Wallets for $10.99.)

That’s right, folks.

The Aluma Wallet is priced to sell and you can order two of the aluminum wallets for only $10.99 (plus shipping and processing on each wallet).  Assuming that one lives in the continental U.S. and not in New Jersey or California (extra sales tax for those residents), the grand total when placing an order for the set of Aluma Wallets comes to either $22.97  ($10.99 + $6.99 + $4.99) OR $24.97  ($10.99 + $6.99 + $6.99).

Hold your horses, pal.

What’s with the two different prices?  Shouldn’t the consumer know the exact price BEFORE placing the order?

Aluma Wallet website – ordering page

The problem here lies with the company’s shitty website.  Pardon my language, but yes, it’s really poor.  The website is full of grammar errors, and depending where you look, the shipping & processing fee for the “free” Aluma Wallet is either $4.99 OR $6.99.  Apparently nobody at the company bothered to proofread their work and check for consistency before advertising it for the world.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So there we go.

When looking past the exaggerated “problems” with leather wallets, did the TV commercial convince you to place an order for the Aluma Wallet?

To be honest, I have never even heard of metal wallets until I saw the first Aluma Wallet some time ago.  As far as I knew, wallets were made of either leather or canvas.  Is a metal wallet actually better than a leather or canvas one, or is it more of a novelty?

Throughout the TV commercial, I did not see anybody slip an Aluma Wallet into a rear pocket.  In other words, despite its alleged indestructibility, is it still comfortable to sit on a metal wallet?  Or is this thing so hard that it’s more likely to stretch the fabric of the pants and eventually rip a hole in it?

It doesn’t help matters that the Aluma Wallet’s website is poorly constructed and looks like crap.  It doesn’t exactly install confidence in the company or the product.  After all, if they cannot get basic English grammar correct, or even be consistent throughout the website, then how much effort did they put into engineering and constructing the product?  The website and product may be completely unrelated, but in the eyes of the consumer, it’s all the same.

For me, I think I’ll still stick with a slimmer version of George Costanza’s wallet in “The Reverse Peephole” episode of Seinfeld.

Like many as-seen-on-TV products, the Aluma Wallet seems more like a novelty than a useful product for most people.

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All of the Aluma Wallet TV commercial images were screenshots of an older TV promotion still available on YouTube.  For more product information, please visit the company’s website, www.AlumaWallet.com.

Aluma Wallet is a registered trademark.

RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Aluma Wallet.