Bell + Howell Solar Charger (emergency cell phone charger) – A Marketing Review
You’re out of the house, doing whatever it is that you do, and all of a sudden your cell phone’s battery is almost dead.
This could be a catastrophe if it’s not recharged ASAP. I mean, how are you going to check those countless number of Facebook and Twitter updates along with continuing your mindless chatting on the phone if the battery stops working?
If you’re in your car you may be able to recharge your phone with an adapter or USB slot (yes, cars actually have USB connections these days). If you’re in a restaurant or shopping mall you may try to find a power outlet to do some quick recharging. If you’re somewhere else in the world and away from a power source, well, you’re screwed. Those people will actually have to power down their device and somehow live without it for a matter of minutes or even a few hours. How those people survive without a working cell phone, I certainly don’t know.
Swap the cell phone situation to anything involving devices of similar size. It could be a tablet, an MP3 player, or even a hand-held video game system. The point it that you’re out of the house and nearly out of battery power for your device. What do you do to give it a quick recharge?
Bell + Howell Solar Charger website — www.GetCharger.com
What’s this? The Bell + Howell Solar Charger?
According to the website and advertisement, supposedly there is a way for you to quickly recharge your cell phones and other small electronic devices without needing a power outlet or USB connection. And get this, it’s SOLAR POWERED, too! That means using that free solar energy that pours onto this planet Earth each and every day, and no more needing to pay to recharge your devices.
Let’s take a look at the Bell + Howell Solar Charger (what in the hell product name is that?!?) advertisement and see how it’s being sold to us, the general public. You may need to visit the product’s website at www.GetCharger.com to view the full advertisement.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – Hello? Can you hear me? I think my phone’s battery is dead! Hello? Is anybody there? Answer me, dammit!
The Bell + Howell Solar Charger (again, that product name really stinks) TV commercial begins by showing us the common problem of cell phones and other devices running low on battery power. Most of us have our daily routines and we roughly know how much battery power we use. Granted, there are situations or circumstances, such as getting drunk at bars and telling the world about it on Facebook, and sometimes the cell phone seems to run out of power too soon.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – Why does this piece of $#^! phone keep draining the battery?
Cell phones can also be rather frustrating when certain applications or constant searching for signals can quickly drain the battery. This is especially bad in hospitals where you’re trying to keep friends and relatives updated of situations, and you have to keep walking around the building and searching for a signal.
If you’re out and remember to bring along your power cord, AND you can find a wall outlet (or USB connection), then you can charge your phone’s battery while still being outside of your home or work. Of course, sometimes power outlets are hard to find and other people out there have similar ideas. Good luck finding an open power outlet at a fast food restaurant or shopping mall food court on busy days.
So the question becomes, is there an alternate way to charge your cell phone or other electronic device? Perhaps something that does NOT require being near a power outlet or other power source?
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – It’s the Bell + Howell Solar Charger!
According to the advertisement, the answer is none other than the Bell + Howell Solar Charger. Once you get past the poor product name you’ll discover that this is basically a portable battery that can be recharged through SOLAR power or a USB connection. That battery can then help recharge your cell phones and other small electronic devices.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – It even works for days at the beach. Just don’t drop the phone or charger into the sand.
The Bell + Howell Solar Charger is being advertised as an emergency charger for your hand-held electronic devices. The product is also being advertised as both “high power” and “high capacity”. And just how strong is the charger? How large is the charger’s battery? How quickly can you recharge the charger’s battery? Unfortunately, those questions remain unanswered in both the product’s TV commercial and the website.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – It can even be recharged with nonrenewable energy.
As we can see, the Bell + Howell Solar Charger can also be charged through a USB connection. Is it as eco-friendly or ultra-cool as being charged from sunlight? No, but I’m sure it gets the job done in the end. Otherwise it wouldn’t be advertised in this commercial.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – Big and fancy words are great distractions!
And just how fancy is the Bell + Howell Solar Charger? It uses a multi-crystalline solar panel AND a high capacity rechargeable lithium battery! Wow, doesn’t that sound or what? Should I expect to see the fancy lightning bolts on my Bell + Howell Solar Charger, too? Believe it or not, but some people will expect to see those flashy graphics on their charger even though we all pretty much know that it’s just part of the TV commercial.
Advertisers, if you really wanted to impress us, perhaps you could tell us useful information such as the charger’s battery’s capacity or voltage. Throwing large or fancy words in a commercial like this is merely a distraction. You may as well have shiny objects or fancy electricity graphics to continue the distraction. Oh, wait a second . . .
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – In other words, it can be charged with both lamps and sunshine.
Next in the advertisement we see that the Bell + Howell Solar Charger can be charged through both natural and artificial light. Yes, solar powered items do not require natural sunshine to function. Go get one of those solar powered dancing flowers or hula girls at the Dollar Store and test this theory yourself. As long as there is light, whether it’s from the sunshine or everyday lamps and light bulbs, then those solar powered items normally function.
The catch here is that natural sunlight normally works BEST when it comes to solar powered items.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – You name it, allegedly this device can charge it.
Included with the Bell + Howell Solar Charger are a variety of adapters for cell phones, tablets, and hand-held game consoles. The commercial claims that ALL adapters are including, implying that this product is compatible with virtually every single type of cell phone, tablet, MP3 player, and hand-held video game system available in the market today.
The golden rule with advertising is to never use terms like “all adapters included” unless you know for a fact that the adapters included will work with every single brand of device pictured in the advertisement. This means both new and old models of the devices. Thankfully most of the cell phones and other electronics these days are pretty much standardized when it comes to power cords.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – Your friends will be so jealous when they see the solar charger on your keychain of all places.
So how does one expect to carry around something like the Bell + Howell Solar Charger device? How about on your keychain? Yeah, that’s an awesome idea!
Or maybe not. My keychain is already busy enough with a few keys, a bottle opener, and a remote control to unlock my car. The last thing I need is yet another bulky attachment to stuff into my pocket.
So what about carrying around the cords for the power adapters? Is there a convenient way of carrying them too?
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – And just where on that bikini was she carrying that solar charger?
Imagine how stylish you’ll look at the beach when using your tablet AND recharging it with your Bell + Howell Solar Charger. I bet all the guys will line up to check out her fancy solar charger rather than her curves in that bikini.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – It even works when you’re on the road.
After showing a few more examples of people using the Bell + Howell Solar Charger to power their devices and greatly improve their daily lives, we actually see VALID arguments for the product. It can be used to help recharge electronic devices while you’re travelling.
This sales point should be receiving more attention. How many times have you been on a long car ride, or a long flight, and your cell phone, MP3 player, tablet, or gaming system has run out of battery power? Some of those devices only last for a couple of hours at the most. If you have something like the Bell + Howell Solar Charger, and some source of light (it would be ideal if you had a window seat), then you’ll be able to recharge your devices and keep your entertainment going.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – It can all be yours for only $19.95 plus shipping & handling.
Near the end of the TV commercial we’re hit with the sales pitch. For only $19.95 we can order the Bell + Howell Solar Charger. Of course, there’s a promotion to get a second solar charger for free as long as we pay for the extra shipping and handling fees.
But that’s not all!
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – The advanced model has a flashlight for crying out loud!
If we need an even fancier Bell + Howell Solar Charger, there’s the advanced model complete with a triple LED flashlight. Holy cow! I didn’t know it was possible to combine a simple flashlight with something like a solar charger. I mean, this thing already came with a keyring for our convenience. Now you’re telling me that we can also use it to help light the way in dark areas? That concept alone just blows the mind.
I hope that the flashlight doesn’t drain the solar charger’s battery too much, or it’s going to have a hard time recharging your cell phone when you need it.
Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial – How bright is that triple LED flashlight again?
The advertisement, however, does a rather poor job showing the power of the triple LED flashlight in the advanced version of the Bell + Howell Solar Charger. Then again, you’re not going to have that much extra light when using only three LEDs to help light the way. You’re almost better off just using the glow from the screen of your cell phone.
As we see in the before and after picture, it’s not like that three LED flashlight was needed to find the deadbolt on that door. The person’s hand is casting a heavy shadow from all the ambient lighting in the “after” picture.
The GRAND TOTAL of the regular version of the buy-one-get-one free Bell + Howell Solar Chargers comes to $33.85 ($19.95 + $6.95 S&H + $6.95 S&H (for the “free” one)).
The GRAND TOTAL of the upgraded version of the buy-one-get-one free Bell + Howell Solar Charges comes to a whopping $45.85 ($29.95 + $7.95 S&H + $7.95 S&H (for the “free” one)). Notice how the website advertises the upgraded version as just being $10 more than the regular one, but the shipping and handling fees have also been increased by a dollar. In reality you’re actually paying $12 more for the promotion with the upgraded version of the solar charger.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite the unmemorable product name and wacky examples in the advertisement, the Bell + Howell Solar Charger is an interesting concept.
I like the idea that basically a solar powered charger and provide power for a battery that can then quickly recharge items like cell phones, tablets and MP3 players. The fact that it uses a renewable source of energy should have been made into a bigger selling point. As long as it works as advertised, you can essentially keep recharging your cell phones and other devices from natural sunlight, never again paying to use a power outlet in your home.
Sure, it’s a small amount of money reduced from your power bill, but that’s a step towards a grander concept of using solar power to help power not only small electronics but also larger items in the near future. It’s a step towards a future with more renewable energy. The eco-freaks alone should be all over a product like this one.
But that’s a big IF when it comes to a product like this one. We are dealing with an as-seen-on-TV product, after all. Those don’t always have the best of reputations.
Notice how little of information is really in the advertisement and the product’s website. That’s never a good sign especially when you’re dealing with electronics. At no point does the advertisement or the website tell us any details about the solar charger, such as its capacity, estimated charging times, or how long the battery can hold the charge before needing to be “topped off” with some sunshine.
The product also doesn’t have a convenient way of carrying or holding the adapter cables for your devices. Notice how there’s a keyring so you can attach it to your keys, but there’s no mention of how you’re supposed to carry around the adapter cable. It would have been great if there was a clip or something to hold the cable against the solar charger, something to keep your most common adapter together with the charging device.
Speaking of the adapters, notice how the top of the product’s website proudly claims, “NO MORE PLUGS OR CORDS!” If that was true, then what about the adapter cable? How are you supposed to connect your electronic device to the solar charger? You NEED TO USE A CABLE, of course! The website SHOULD have said no more POWER CORDS, but it doesn’t. It just uses the word cord, and in this case a cable is the same as a cord. Therefore the website is lying because of its poor wording.
The product’s website LIE is another bad sign about what kind of product the seller is trying to sell you. Combine that with the flashy graphics, repeated demonstration of an incredibly simple concept, and a lack of real information about the product, and that adds up to trouble.
In other words, the marketers could have done a much more credible job of trying to sell this product.
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All of the Bell + Howell Solar Charger TV commercial images were screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on the product’s website. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.GetCharger.com.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Bell + Howell Solar Charger.