My Lil’ Pie Maker (baking accessory) – A Marketing Review

Dinner is going to be served in a few hours, but you’re still trying to think of something to bake for dessert.

Brownies are so yesterday and cakes are overrated.  What should you do?  Bake a pie?

Nah.  Baking a large pie could be challenging by itself.  Plus you have to pick a single flavor that most people would enjoy.  But what if you were to bake a few mini pies?

Hmmmm.

That’s so crazy it just might work.

The only question is how to bake it.  You already have the pre-made pie crust and some pie filling.  You just need some sort of contraption to hold it together while it bakes.  For some reason that seems harder than it sounds.

I’ve got a jumbo cupcake pan.  It’ll hold six of them at once.  Will that work?

I don’t know.  It kinda looks complicated, with the six holders and all.  I might need something more simple and a lot more stylish.

What’s this?

A My Lil’ Pie Maker?  Really?

My Lil’ Pie Maker website — www.MyLilPieMaker.com

That’s right, folks.  Your eyes are not deceiving you.  Just when you thought that baking mini pies was going to be nearly impossible, along comes the My Lil’ Pie Maker.

No, it’s not a My Little Pony horsie toy for little girls.  Tiny plastic horses do NOT belong in the oven, no matter what your older brothers and sisters may tell you.  This is the My Lil’ Pie Maker, a device that almost seems like it was designed for the My Little Pony age bracket.  At least, that’s how it sounds based on its name AND sheer simplicity.

Let’s take a closer look at the My Lil’ Pie Maker’s TV commercial and give it a good ol’ fashioned review.

For starters, the best version of the TV commercial is available on the company’s website.  It’s a tiny video on the website, but it’s better quality and updated compared to what you’ll find on YouTube.

Have you seen the commercial?

Ready to continue?

Great!

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial —  Mmmm, some humble pie for dinner tonight!

The My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial begins with this shockingly believable scene.  Apparently people enjoy eating pies!  They’re delicious!

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — Mommy, why the hell did you bake so many mini pies?

Big pies, little pies, dessert pies, Brussels sprouts pies, chicken pot pies, Soylent Green pies, ice cream pies — people love pies!

Now, if only there was an easy way to bake four mini pies at a time.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — It’s like a large pie pan, only smaller.

Oh wow!  It’s the My Lil’ Pie Maker!

Just like a jumbo cupcake pan or similar baking utensil, the My Lil’ Pie Maker allows you to build and bake up to four mini pies at a time.  Just press in the pie crust, fill it with your favorite filling, and then set the upper crust (optional), slide it in the oven, and bake it.  That’s about it.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — It’s compatible with regular and toaster ovens.

The remarkably small size of the My Lil’ Pie Maker allows it to fit inside of regular ovens and most toaster ovens.  There’s no word yet if this is compatible with another classic kitchen (and Kindergarten) appliance, the Easy Bake Oven.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — Just like magic, you’ll have four little pies.

Assuming that you’ve constructed the pies flawlessly AND managed to cook them for the correct length of time at the correct oven temperature, then you’ll have four perfect little pies.

Wow!  It’s just like magic!

I wonder if any other baking device can successfully hold a few miniature pies while they bake in the oven.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — It comes with MAGIC cutting devices.

That’s right.  Magic.  It says so in the TV commercial.

Just use the round cutting device, press down into the pie dough, say a few magic words, hold your breath for a moment, hope nobody notices that you cut something else a moment ago, and then PRESTO!  You’ll have a perfectly round lid to cover your tiny little pie!  Un-freakin-believable!

As you can probably tell, the fact that the company actually referred to the cutting devices as a “magic pie cutting set” is really stupid.  Are cookie cutters also magical?  Is a rolling pin a mystical flattening device?  Is the microwave really a magic popcorn machine in disguise?

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — Cut fancy pie tops in no time!

Despite the absurdity of calling the pie cutting set “magic,” the lattice pattern cut-out looks pretty neat.  You can make that kind of top manually if you have a little patience, but having the instant cut-out is a nice luxury.  This add-on is a great selling feature, but, alas, you won’t hear about it anymore in the TV commercial.  Oh well.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — Half LEGO block, half baking accessory.

Looking like a giant LEGO block, the pop-up tray was scientifically designed to help you remove the mini pies from the pie tray.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — And the mini pies magically rise from the tray.

Just set the pie tray directly onto the scientifically designed and ultra-modern pop-up tray, and watch as the mini pies rise for easier access.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — OMG!  Store bought pies actually cost money?!?

It looks like that woman is paying about $25 for that large pie in the store.  Holy cow!  Isn’t she aware that she can bake significantly smaller pies for less than that?  What a fool!  And to think, other people fall for that “fresh baked” gimmick that bakeries use!  Ha!

At least you know the secret to avoiding those extraordinarily high prices in the bakery.  You can also avoid walking into the bakery and being overloaded with those sweet and incredibly delicious smells, too.  Ooh, and a cannoli as well.  Whatever you do, don’t forget the cannoli.

Instead of the bakery, instead go to the grocery store and purchase the pie crust and pie filling separately.  Then head home and use your fancy My Lil’ Pie Maker, and show those professional bakers who’s boss!  That’s right!  Take that, you culinary experts!

 

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — Those other pie machines cost how much?!?

According to the TV commercial, “. . . electric pie makers costs a fortune.”

It fascinating how that “other” kitchen appliance is much fancier, a lot more solid, and also includes a heating element.  If you took away all of those features, how would those “other” baking accessories compare to the My Lil’ Pie Maker?  What about something very similar, such as a jumbo cupcake pan?

Oddly enough, when I searched a few stores’ websites, I found a few of those “electric pie makers” at significantly lower prices than that “standard” one in the TV commercial.  Then again, we’re talking about two different kitchen accessories here.  One is merely a fancy baking pan, while the other is an electric cooking device.

My Lil’ Pie Maker TV commercial — It comes with a fancy spatula!

One of the bonus items is a fancy spatula resembling a large fork.  It looks to be pretty handy to lift and carry the mini pies — that is, as long as the upper crust is connected to the pie well enough.  A weak top to the pie, and WHAM!  Crumb city on your kitchen counter.

At the end of the TV commercial we’re hit with the sales pitch.  Sure enough, the offer on TV (and the company’s website) is for TWO sets of the mini pie trays and the accessories.  By the time you add in the second set of items, the GRAND TOTAL is $23.90 ($10.00 (set of items) + $6.95 (P&H) + $6.95 (P&H for the “free” set of items)).

The only odd thing with the offer is that the TV commercial makes a point of showing the pop-up tray, but it’s not pictured or mentioned in the promotion on the website.  Is it still included with the offer?

WARNING – Be careful if you enter your credit card company and press the “Process Order” button.  Many of these as-seen-on-TV company websites do NOT give you a final confirmation screen before accepting your CC number.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So how exactly does the My Lil’ Pie Maker set itself apart from every other baking tray on the market?

The TV commercial itself is incredibly simple.  A child could grasp the concept of the product.  This is easily explained at the beginning.  Otherwise, a LOT of the TV commercial is filled with examples of completed pies supposedly made with the My Lil’ Pie Maker.

The product name is a little bit weird and childish.  For starters, it sounds suspiciously close to My Little Pony, a little girl’s toy.  It’s also not really a “maker.”  The tray merely holds the pie’s shape while you make the pie with your hands.  The oven (not included, of course) then bakes the pie.

One thing suspiciously absent from this particular commercial is information about cleaning the My Lil’ Pie Maker.  People love easy-to-clean kitchen accessories.  Being easy to clean and dishwasher safe are HUGE selling features.  Suspiciously, nothing of that nature is mentioned in the TV commercial.

I do have a bone to pick with the company’s website.  Apparently somebody there fell asleep when it came time to checking the spelling and grammar.  Other parts of the website just plain stink.

And just what is the plural version of the word “pie”?

This blaring mistake greets visitors at the top of the website.  You’ll see the same graphic with a different font color later down the website.  Oddly enough, “pies” was spelled correctly in other parts of the site.

Speaking of getting the plural version incorrect, check out “spatula” and “guide” above.  You’re supposed to receive two of them, but somebody decided to type the single version of the word instead.  This mistake is also repeated in a different graphic on the website.

Okay, we have a few things that need discussion here.

A) What is this product officially called?  I have a feeling it’s supposed to be My Lil’ Pie Maker, and not just Lil Pie Maker as typed in this example on the website.  The “M” in “my” should be capitalized, and the “Lil” is missing an apostrophe.  In fact, the “Lil” is frequently missing the apostrophe on the website, almost like the writer kept debating whether or not to add it.

B) “Kids” should also have an apostrophe at the end of the word as you’re talking about parties for the kids.  It’s supposed to be showing something possessive for multiple subjects.  It’s no different than saying, “My kids’ clothes . . .” or “My kids’ filthy habits . . .”

C) “Jane Doe” — Really?!?  Could these people be any more lame?  With the name Jane Doe, it’s VERY obvious that it’s a fake review of the product.  They could have at least tried to disguise it such as “Jane D. – from Idaho.”  If those crappy medical and technology school commercials can use that trick, then so can a simple product website.

I know, I know.  This is just nitpicking, right?  Should we really care that the people who are trying to sell the product have a sale’s page full of errors?  My own grammar isn’t perfect, but when I make a sale’s page, I damn well make sure that whatever text I have is grammatically correct.

So there you go.

As you can see, the My Lil’ Pie Maker uses an incredibly simple advertising and marketing strategy.  It’s missing some important information such as, A) there was no comparison to “regular” baking trays, and B) there’s absolutely no mention about cleaning the product.  As we know, if an item is simple to clean, you’ll definitely hear about it.  It’s a huge selling feature.  But with the My Lil’ Pie Maker, information about cleaning it is mysteriously absent.

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All of the My Lil’ Pie Maker commercial images were screenshots of a slightly older TV commercial currently available on YouTube.  For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.MyLilPieMaker.com.

My Lil’ Pie Maker is a registered trademark.

RellimZone.com is not affiliated with My Lil’ Pie Maker.