Lint Lizard Dryer Lint Remover — A Marketing Review
The other night (I know, I know. It’s always “The other day . . . ” or “The other night . . . ” I need to find a better way to start some of these articles.) I saw a TV commercial for something called the Lint Lizard, a vacuum hose attachment designed to help remove the lint from your clothes dryer’s vent.
As we all should know, the buildup of dryer lint is a serious problem for many people. Yes, you should clean the lint screen after each load of clothes in the dryer, and yes, you should periodically clean the rest of the dryer vent and keep that airway as clean as possible.
After fighting the evil forces of laziness and procrastination, is there some sort of tool to better help clean the vent and remove that nasty lint? Is there really such a miracle product, or am I better off jamming a stick into the lint and scooping it out that way?
Check out the TV commercial for Lint Lizard and see it for yourself.
Lint Lizard TV commercial (NOTE – This is a slightly older version of the current TV commercial.)
Is this just a simple hose with an attachment, or is there more to the story of the Lint Lizard?
Let’s take a closer look at the Lint Lizard’s website and TV commercial and see if we can find anything interesting.
Lint Lizard official website — www.LintLizard.com
The official website for Lint Lizard (Why do I want to keep calling it ‘Lizard Lint’?) is really simple and doesn’t go into a whole lot of detail. In fact, there’s not even a clear picture of the product on the website. Instead we see a bunch of text talking all about the features and benefits of using the Lint Lizard, and a few small pictures showing the product in action. Is this how you’re supposed to construct a sales page these days?
Lint Lizard ordering page — www.LintLizard.com
The Lint Lizard’s ordering page doesn’t look any better. Although it’s made to look like its own separate page, the ordering page has the same URL as the rest of the website. Just scroll down and you’ll see it. As it was pointed out in other articles, this is a very sloppy and unprofessional way to create a website. Either combine the main page and ordering screen, or make them two separate pages with their own unique URL. Having two separate pages on one page and separating them by a giant area of white space gives the impression that this is a sketchy company and more likely a piece of junk.
We know that the product’s website isn’t the best and it appears that whoever constructed it took the easy way out. Let’s take a look at the Lint Lizard TV commercial and see what it’s trying to sell us.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Frustrated with the inability to dry clothes instantly?
The Lint Lizard commercial beings with a woman frustrated with her clothes dryer. Apparently it’s been taking longer and longer to dry clothes, and on top of that, sometimes they aren’t even completely dry when being removed from the dryer.
Is it time to go back to the ultra Earth-friendly method of drying clothes outdoors on a string, something that people have been doing since the dawn of time? Nah. Doing so might put your unmentionables on display for all to see. It might also make you feel old fashioned. Besides, we really don’t want to see that XXL size underwear flapping in the wind. Perhaps there’s a quicker way to improve your dryer’s abilities and give you the privacy and convenience of indoor drying.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — A tube attachment for your vacuum cleaner.
Check out the Lint Lizard, a vacuum cleaner hose attachment designed to better help you clean the lint from your dryer and the vent. If you listen closely to the TV commercial you’ll hear that “Now you can speed up your dryer by up to fifteen minutes.”
Speeding up a dryer by up to fifteen minutes? Really? That seems pretty significant. Can the average person who uses this product really expect to see a drying difference anywhere near that great? Wait a second. Aren’t you going to go into more detail about this massive improvement in drying time? No? Really? Okay, I guess. It still seems like it could be a major selling feature to a lot of people.
As far as the Lint Lizard, this is probably one of the best images of the product that you’ll see in both the TV commercial and on the product’s website. If this is such a great product, why do we see so little of its true size? Why do we mainly see closeups of certain parts of it? Is this product so simple that its simplicity alone could turn away many potential buyers?
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Like a ‘magic wand’ or a colon cleansing?
Claiming to be flexible, the TV commercial goes as far as comparing the Lint Lizard to being a magic wand. I guess that’s going to also depend on the strength of your vacuum cleaner, especially since lint tends to cling to the walls of the dryer vent. The clear tube with dark chunks moving through it reminds me more of a colon cleansing than a “magic wand.”
Lint Lizard TV commercial — It’s so simple even a vacuum cleaner can use it!
Well, a vacuum cleaner technically isn’t using the Lint Lizard, but rather being attached to it. You can still see the extreme simplicity of the product as it’s being attached to an average vacuum cleaner hose.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — A big ol’ tub of lint.
Up next we see somebody emptying a container full of lint collected from an “average” clothes dryer. A) The “Yuck!” part at the end really wasn’t necessary by the narrator. What do you think most people are going to say to a sight like that? Yummy? Come on! Get real! B) We don’t know anything about how many loads of clothes it took to get that much lint “past your lint screen” or even if the screen was cleaned between loads.
The TV commercial is implying that large collections of lint like this one are going to be a regular occurrence for most people. Depending on your model of clothes dryer, the type of clothes that you normally dry, how often you dry clothes, and how often you clean the lint screen, the amount of time it’ll take your dryer to have that much lint can differ wildly.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Dryer vent fires — a very real problem.
Here we’re at the meat of the commercial and have a fantastic selling feature. Well, this really isn’t a feature of the Lint Lizard, but it’s one hell of a benefit of keeping a cleaner dryer vent.
The commercial states that a dryer vent full of lint can burn out the dryer’s motor. On top of that, dryer vents full of lint are much more flammable and, under the right conditions, can start a house fire. Boom! There are two good selling features of having a clean dryer vent. So why are these two benefits are barely touched in the TV commercial?
At least the Lint Lizard didn’t make the whole “clean your dryer vent or else!” angle like a cheesy PSA as some car insurance companies do — “We at So & So Insurance think you should always use your seat belt and never text while driving.”
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Sliding it in there like a giant dipstick.
Once again we get a brief glimpse of the actual product for sale. Nearly four feet long, the Lint Lizard is supposedly flexible and capable of bending around corners to slide deep within the bowels of the dryer’s vent shaft. Of course, the suction power of your vacuum cleaner is going to depend on how well you’ll be able to remove the lint from the dryer.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Just say NO! to old fashioned lint brushes.
Does an old fashioned lint brush got you down?
Are you tired of using an old fashioned and messy cleaning method that’s more likely to make more of a mess than actually clean your dryer’s vent?
Lint Lizard TV commercial — The aftermath of using one of those ‘other’ lint cleaners.
As if showing one of those old fashioned lint cleaners in action wasn’t horrific enough, we’re also shown the mess one of those “cleaners” can leave on your floor. How horrible! You’ll have to take an extra minute sweeping or vacuuming that incredible mess, especially with it being so loose and easy to collect.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Some of the amazing versatility of the Lint Lizard.
After seeing how poorly one of those old fashioned lint cleaners really works (We’ve all experienced that, right?), the TV commercial takes it up a notch and shows just how versatile the Lint Lizard really is. Be marveled at how the tube can help you reach between and underneath those appliances, something that no other vacuum cleaner hose attachment can do! Wow!
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Just shove it right in there!
Drag the vacuum cleaner outside, run an extension cord to power it, and you’ll be cleaning the rest of your dryer’s vent in no time.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Pleading for the repair man to stop playing with his tools and get to work.
That’s right, folks.
When your dryer’s motor burns out because of an excessive buildup of lint in the vent system, just remember that YOU could have probably prevented it through regular cleaning with the Lint Lizard . . . or some other method of cleaning the vent. Those repair men are all cheats and liars anyway, right? Clean your dryer’s vent and send the repair man packing.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Order now and also get the Dust Dragon, errr, Dust LIZARD. (NOTE — These pictures are from an earlier TV commercial as the Dust Dragon was later renamed to Dust Lizard.)
To help sweeten the deal for the Lint Lizard, the TV commercial is also throwing in the Dust Lizard, yet another vacuum cleaner hose attachment. Take note that the Dust Lizard is capable of bending at such severe angles, something that I’m sure no other vacuum cleaner attachment can do. Probably not even the hose itself can bend like that!
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Cleaning the keyboard like no other device!
Just when you thought that all options had failed when trying to clean a cheap, $8 computer keyboard, and it looked like you were destined for a trip to Micro Center, along comes the Dust Lizard! Now those “delicate electronics” can be cleaned like a pro.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Clean that floor like never before!
In this shocking display of cleaning power, watch as the Dust Lizard can get into those tile crevices, sweeping out the dirt and feeding it into the vacuum cleaner. Oh, if only other vacuum cleaner hose attachments could also perform this incredible feat!
No easily accessible corner is safe as the Dust Lizard picks up the loose dirt and food crumbs. Perhaps a kitchen that messy should also be worried about attracting bugs and mice.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Show those blinds who’s boss!
Dusting Venetian blinds can also be accomplished with an ordinary vacuum cleaner and the ultra special Dust Lizard hose attachment.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — Dusting and cleaning the dirtiest of chandeliers with the Dust Lizard.
Just when you thought that we exhausted all possible combinations of items you could clean and dust with the Dust Lizard, along comes the chandelier. Grab yourself a ladder, pull out the vacuum’s hose to its full length, and clean the dust off the light fixture with the greatest of ease.
Smile as your house guests look up and admire your sparkling clean chandelier on their next visit. When they ask you for your cleaning secret, just smile again and show them your Dust Lizard. I’ll bet they’ll flock to the website and immediately place an order.
Lint Lizard TV commercial — OMG! A $70 VALUE!!!!!!!!!
At the end of the TV commercial we’re hit with the sales pitch. The Lint Lizard itself costs $10.99, but by the time you throw in shipping & handling along with the shipping and handling for the “free” items, you’re paying a total of $24.97 ($10.99 (Lint Lizard) + $6.99 (shipping & handling) + $6.99 (shipping & handling for “free” items)).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ah, the Lint Lizard.
I do like the lizard graphic on the Lint Lizard’s website. Honest. It’s a neat logo and whoever did it did a great job.
I’m willing to bet that cleaning one’s dryer vent is an overlooked household issue with most homes. Cleaning the lint screen is one thing, but finding a way to clean the rest of the vent is something else, especially where the dryer is connected to the wall. Without some kind of hose, cleaning that part of the vent can be a bit of a nuisance.
But does the TV commercial do an adequate job of selling the product?
The Lint Lizard accessory looks like a simple (and long) thin hose extension for a vacuum cleaner. And, well, that’s it. A few examples show us legitimate uses for the Lint Lizard (namely cleaning the lint from the dryer vent), but the rest of the commercial seems like a cheap filler. The fact that the “free” Dust Lizard accessory takes up nearly thirty-five seconds of commercial time is a bad sign. How much faith do the sellers have in the primary product when a “freebie” is given so much time?
Earlier in the commercial it was mentioned that cleaning the dryer’s vent could speed up the dryer by up to fifteen minutes. Yeah, yeah. I know. The whole “up to” really means “in extreme situations only” since the average person normally wouldn’t see a difference in drying time that great. But the whole “speeding up the drying process” is a valid selling technique that is barely touched in the advertisement. Perhaps the great difference in dryers makes further pursuit of this claim way too costly and time consuming for further mention in the commercial.
Or perhaps there’s not a whole lot of truth for claims of a fifteen minute improvement drying time. It’s not like commercials have had to be revised because of advertisers stretching the truth.
The sales pitch at the end gets a bit ridiculous when the TV commercial claims that the whole product offer is really a $70 value. $70? Really? That figure seems waaaaaaay too high when you see the simplicity of the product, especially since the Lint lizard has no moving parts and appears to be a simple clear hose. When you exaggerate the “true value” of the offer by that much you’re going to lose customers.
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All of the Lint Lizard commercial images were screenshots of an older TV commercial available on YouTube. For more product information, please visit the company’s website, www.LintLizard.com.
Lint Lizard is a registered trademark.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Lint Lizard.