Flashlight Friends (Stuffed Animal w/ Flashlight) – A Marketing Review
As we know, most children enjoy playing and sleeping with stuffed animals.
The stuffed animals can pose as imaginary friends, or they can simply be silent companions. It’s a friendly face and a soft body that’s welcoming to many younger children.
We also know that children also enjoy playing with devices that create light, such as flashlights. You give a kid a flashlight and a slightly dark area, and they’ll have fun for hours. Or until the flashlight’s batteries finally run out of power.
But what if you were to combine a flashlight with a stuffed animal?
Is such a concept even possible? I mean, can you just imagine the level of excitement a child may have when playing with both a stuffed animal AND a flashlight? Wow. The mere thought of that simply blows away my mind.
Believe it or not, but somebody out there created such a concept. It’s called the Flashlight Friend.
Done correctly, this could actually be a great product that’s both fun and useful. On the other hand, if this is something poorly assembled, cheap, or just greatly exaggerated with the advertising, then it’ll fall into the category of most as-seen-on-TV products and be a waste of time and money.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial
Let’s take a closer look at the Flashlight Friends television commercial and see just what they’re trying to sell us here. SPOILER ALERT — There is misleading if not outright false advertising in this TV commercial.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – How do we really know that they’re friendly?
The Flashlight Friends television commercial jumps right to the product itself. Here we’re shown a rather interesting product of a flashlight combined with a stuffed animal.
We know that children love stuffed animals.
We also know that children enjoy playing with flashlights.
But is this really a useful product? Is the flashlight real or just a glorified nightlight?
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Just how bright is that room?
Right off the bat we’re shown a quick scene with the Flashlight Friends toys, but it’s not all that it seems.
When you pause the video you notice just how bright it really is in that room despite the two girls using their Flashlight Friends toys. Notice how each girl’s face is brightly lit despite the allegedly bright flashlight toy being in front and facing away from them. Also notice how the Blue Puppy Flashlight Friend on the left has quite a strong and well-defined shadow, indicating a bright light somewhere above and behind it, just out of the camera’s shot.
Why is this flashlight toy being demonstrated in such a well lit room? Why does the girl on the left make such a dark shadow on her lower leg?
Perhaps the advertisers have to use additional lights in this scene for a reason.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Is this toy really supposed to be a flashlight?
Up next we’re treated to two quick examples of how to turn the flashlight feature on the Flashlight Friends toy on and off. All it takes is a simple touch of the light itself. No problems there. It looks like it’s really easy to use. That’s a good selling point for a toy designed for young kids.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Is that a flashlight or a nightlight?
But when you look closely at the before and after images, perhaps you notice something else instead.
Although the room itself is pretty bright, here it looks like we’re seeing a true example of the power of the Flashlight Friend’s flashlight. Or perhaps its apparent lack of power. As you can see, the room looks just as brightly lit whether the flashlight is on or off, especially in the last example.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – How is she going to find anybody with a light that dim?
Next we learn that Flashlight Friends are allegedly perfect for night games, such as flashlight tag or hide-and-seek. Of course, this is a cuddly toy versus a real flashlight.
In the image on the left we can see that the flashlight feature is actually turned on despite the abundance of light already present in this night outdoor scene. In the second image you can actually see the spot of light from the flashlight shining on the bushes. It’s that tiny bright spot just to the left of the Flashlight Friend.
The light itself would have been a lot more obvious without all of the extra lighting in this scene. Perhaps there’s a reason why the advertisers are disguising the true power of the flashlight in the Flashlight Friends.
So what else can you do with the Flashlight Friends toys?
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Story time with the Purple Panda Flashlight Friend.
One such idea is using the Flashlight Friend for story time in bed. Of course, when reading at night, you really should have a decent light so that you don’t strain or harm your eyesight.
Here we see that the flashlight in the Purple Panda is turned on, but there’s a ton of ambient lighting in this scene. The boy himself is very bright despite the light being in front and pointed away from him. The same is true for all of the blankets and pillows above and behind him and his toy. In an actual dark room we’d have a hard time seeing those details so clearly.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Who reads in cars when you could be playing video games or watching cartoons or movies?
Another idea is to use the Flashlight Friends when reading in the car.
Of course, there’s more light in here than what we’re meant to believe. Notice how the Pink Unicorn is facing forwards and what little light from its flashlight is hitting the page of the book directly in front of it. Yet when we actually look at the scene we see quite a bit of extra light shining on the girl as well as the opposite book page.
And we’re supposed to believe that all of that light is only from the flashlight in the Flashlight Friend stuffed animal? Yeah, right.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – The trio of Flashlight Friends suddenly grows brighter . . .
Here we have three kids sitting with their Flashlight Friends while playing a board game. Suddenly the power goes out and they’re left in the dark. Oh no! The kids know exactly what to do. Without batting an eye, they all active the flashlights in their Flashlight Friends toys and then have enough light to resume playing their game.
As you can see in the three-panel image, the middle image shows what the Flashlight Friends really look like in a darkened room. The room is not completely dark as we can still see the wall and board game fairly well, but the kids and their stuffed animals are dark enough for this test. And the end result isn’t exactly spectacular.
The third image in the set occurs a couple of frames later as extra light suddenly appears out of nowhere. All of a sudden we can clearly see the three Flashlight Friends stuffed animals along with the kids’ faces. Again, we’re meant to believe that *all* of that light is from those three Flashlight Friends despite the lights being in *front* of and pointing *away* from themselves and the kids.
This is another classic example of misleading advertising. The advertisers decided to use extra lights off-camera to create the illusion of the product being better than it is in reality. The middle image is very close to reality. The final image is false advertising.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Imagine the surprises you’ll find when using a toy for a flashlight.
And here we have a little girl using her extremely bright Flashlight Friend to discover Santa Claus by the Christmas tree. Like before, the girl and her stuffed animal are very bright, indicating a light shining on her from off-camera.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – It can even be used for shadow puppets.
Here we have an example of some kids using their Flashlight Friends to play with shadow puppets. It looks legitimate, right?
Guess again.
Remember that we’re dealing with an as-seen-on-TV product and advertisers that have already been proven to deliberately mislead the customers. Even this incredibly simple example has been exaggerated and establishes doubt in the product.
In the image on the left, notice how the girl in red has her right hand in front of the flashlight. Yet in the image on the right, the shadow is being used by the person’s left hand. We also don’t see either of the kids moving their arms in the image on the right. In addition to that, their bodies are conveniently blocking our view of their Flashlight Friends.
Why is our view blocked in that part of the example?
Why couldn’t the advertisers raise the camera a few inches to show us the Flashlight Friends sitting in front of them along with the shadows on the wall?
But we don’t see the most important part of the commercial in that quick example. We’re shown a fun concept with the shadow puppets, yet it’s extremely doubtful if this product can actually produce a strong enough light to do so. The previous examples here suggest otherwise.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – Would it help if you had the night vision of a cat?
Again we’re shown that the Flashlight Friend can be a fun reading light for kids in bed. Yet once again we see a lot of extra light shining on the girl, her Flashlight Friend, and the rest of the bed.
Perhaps the Flashlight Friend flashlight *might* give enough extra light for reading if the kid had the same night vision as a house cat.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – It turns off automatically after ten minutes.
Just when all hope in honest advertising seems off, here we see another legitimate selling point. After ten minutes, the flashlight for the Flashlight Friends turns off automatically.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – A cuddly toy or a useful flashlight?
We’re then informed that the Flashlight Friends have a handle on the back for easy grabbing and carrying, making this a kid-friendly flashlight. We’re shown how kids use it to help walk around the house at night. It can also be used to help curve their fear of the dark.
Those are good selling points as long as the product delivers. The big question is, Does the flashlight part of the Flashlight Friend stuffed animal produce enough light to be a useful flashlight?
Or are your kids better off with just a cheap flashlight minus the stuffed animal toy?
That question can be asked again after this next before-and-after sequence in the advertisement.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – The closet magically illuminates when the flashlight is pointed away from it.
Here we have the Pink Unicorn Flashlight Friend being used as a flashlight. However, the screenshots here tell us a different story.
In the image on the left, notice how the girl is pointing the Pink Unicorn inside of the closet, and the closet is dark. The image on the right is only a frame or two later (a fraction of a second). This time the Pink Unicorn is pointed slightly to the left of the closet and the flashlight is shining onto the door’s frame and part of the wall. As the flashlight is pointing away from the closet, suddenly the interior of the closet is much brighter.
How is that possible if the flashlight is pointed to the left and mostly outside of the closet?
Perhaps there’s something more at play here.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – And just what size and how many batteries does it require?
After that questionable example, the advertisers throw in some legitimate selling points at the end of the commercial. We’re informed that the LED light lasts for hundreds of hours on a single set of batteries (not included), and the light does not get hot. You can safely touch the light and not fear of burning yourself or starting a fire.
Flashlight Friends TV commercial – There’s no special deal here.
The end of the Flashlight Friends TV commercial has the promotion. There’s no big promotion in this as-seen-on-TV advertisement. There’s no freebie if you buy one of the stuffed animal flashlight toys.
The TOTAL COST of the Flashlight Friend through the company’s website costs $27.98 ($19.99 + $7.99 S&H). Additional stuffed animals cost the same price with the same additional shipping and handling fees. There’s no mentioned discount for ordering multiple items.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Flashlight Friend is one of those products designed for young kids. Many parents think that the stuffed animals look cute, and many kids probably want to play with it. It’s a stuffed animal along with a flashlight. It seems to be a good idea as long as it works as advertised.
The problem here is that the flashlight part of the advertising is extremely misleading in several of the scenes. When you pause the video and look closely, it’s very obvious that additional lights off-camera are being used to make the scenes look bright, much brighter than when being used with *only* the Flashlight Friend. It’s obvious when you look the the angles of the bright lights along with the shadows.
These scenes are quick though and you’ll probably only catch these issues when you pause the video or at least watch it in slow motion.
If the advertisers have to lie and mislead us, then is the product itself any good?
That’s the golden question, my friends. The fact that they do so tells us that either, A) The product is crap, or B) The advertisers made huge mistakes when trying to market the product.
On top of the flashlight part of the product being highly questionable, it’s also fairly expensive to order the product through the company’s website. Including shipping and handling, a single Flashlight Friend costs $27.98. There’s not even a promotion to receive an additional Flashlight Friend for free. Walmart carries these Flashlight Friends for about $20 each, and they have most of the characters in stock. Target’s website also has some of them as well for cheaper prices.
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All of the Flashlight Friends commercial images are screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on YouTube and the product’s website. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.FlashlightFriends.com.
Flashlight Friends is a registered trademark.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Flashlight Friends.