Glow Pets (Glowing Stuffed Animal Pillow) – A Marketing Review
What do you do when your kid is scared of the dark?
One such option is called “Shut up and deal with it, or I’ll give you something to cry about!” (SUADWIOIGYSTCA). Although SUADWIOIGYSTCA is somewhat controversial, this method of yelling and threatening the kid with violence if said kid does not stop complaining can still achieve the desired results. Just don’t go around bragging about SUADWIOIGYSTCA or you may have to deal with Child Protective Services. Then nobody wins.
Another option is to simply leave on a light or have a nightlight in the kid’s bedroom. Simply leaving on a light may add up to a costly electric bill, and having just a nightlight may not provide that comfort factor that the child desires. Unless you step in and do some parenting, then the kid is still going to be upset in the dark.
Option number three involves purchasing some sort of light up or glowing toy for the kid to play with at night. Since this is going to regularly occur at bed time, it’s preferable that the toy be something soft and cuddly that the child can have in bed. We don’t exactly want the kid to be playing with hard objects or sharp edges, especially when asleep.
So what’s soft and cuddly that also glows in the dark?
Glow Pets website — www.GlowPets.com
What’s this? A Glow Pet? Did somebody up there hear our pleas for help during such dire times?
Let’s take a closer look at the Glow Pets’ advertisement and try to see if this is honest or really a scam. NOTE – While there are Glow Pets TV commercials on YouTube, the official website has a different advertisement. This review is only going to examine the commercial hosted at the official website, www.GlowPets.com.
Glow Pets TV commercial – It glows! And it looks like a pet! Amazing!
The Glow Pets’ TV commercial begins with a quick jingle telling us that not only are the pillows fun, but apparently “. . . Glow Pets are awesome!” We’ll be the judge of that claim.
Glow Pets TV commercial – The girls discover the glowing stash of plutonium in the backyard.
After the jingle we see two girls discover something magical and glowing in their backyard. Is is a fairy? Is it a leprechaun’s pot of gold? Is it a sign that the dog’s old excrements are now radioactive?
Nope.
Glow Pets TV commercial – The Glow Ladybug — Destroyer of Worlds.
It’s what looks like a Glow Ladybug. However, as of this writing, this particular Glow Pet is NOT on the Glow Pets website, so one can only guess which animal it’s supposed to represent.
Forget about the Glow Ladybug or whatever it’s supposed to be. We’re moving on to more important matters in this advertisement.
Glow Pets TV commercial – There’s no mention if drool will harm the Glow Pet.
One of the main selling points of the Glow Pets is that they’re soft and cuddly. The advertisers want you to believe that they can even be substituted for a pillow. That is, if you don’t mind electronics and LED lights being used right next to your kid’s head.
Glow Pets TV commercial – Why is there a light already shining on the middle Glow Pet?
So just how bright do the Glow Pets shine?
It’s difficult to get an honest look at the Glow Pets as nearly every scene is bright with additional lights, almost as if the advertisers are trying to hide something. Here in this first example we not only see a fairly bright room, but there’s already a separate light shining on the middle Glow Pet. It’s quite obvious in the “before” image on the left.
Is this fraudulent advertising?
I wouldn’t call it a fraud or scam, but certainly looks questionable if not outright misleading.
Glow Pets TV commercial – Sleep soundly child as I, the Glow Seal, will help comfort you.
Here we have a girl cuddling with her Glow Seal while falling asleep. But how bright does the Glow Seal glow? It’s difficult to tell as this girl’s bedroom is pretty bright. Check out that intense shadow from the seal’s head.
Glow Pets TV commercial – One turtle turns on another.
In this example we have a boy playing with his Glow Turtle. The only problem is that the room is so bright that it’s almost pointless to turn on the Glow Turtle. It’s like playing with a flashlight during the daytime. What’s the point?
Glow Pets TV commercial – Is it really a good idea to use an electronic toy as a pillow?
Am I the only one here who thinks that it’s a little bit disturbing to use electric toys as pillows? While the Glow Pets may feel soft and cuddly, that doesn’t mean that you *should* be using it as your regular pillow, especially if you’re playing with it outside of the bedroom.
Glow Pets TV commercial – The monsters under the bed will have to wait 20 minutes before eating you.
Another key selling feature of the Glow Pets stuffed animals is that they turn off automatically after twenty minutes. That’s good for those kids who use the Glow Pets as a nightlight. It’ll help keep those monsters hiding under the bed and in the closet until you’re finally asleep.
Glow Pets TV commercial – So awesome that it deserves a music video.
After showing us a few of the Glow Pets (not all of them are available for sale on the website), we’re treated to a music video with kids singing about how much they love the Glow Pets.
That’s the power of jingles, folks. Once you get people hooked then they’ll be obsessed with singing it. It happened the other day when my girlfriend brought a Subway sandwich to her work. Suddenly all of her co-workers began singing that crunch a munch song that Subway is currently using in their commercials. She didn’t have the featured sub sandwich but her co-workers didn’t care. They just wanted to sing the stupid jingle.
Glow Pets TV commercial – Sleeping in the car and forgetting about the 30 cocaine bricks in the trunk.
Here we have an example of the Glow Pets being used as glowing pillows in the car. Why does one need a glowing stuffed toy to help fall asleep in the car, I don’t know.
The car is one of those places where as a youngster with a fear of the dark, you’re really not afraid. The car is a comfortable area where you feel safe and are surrounded by family or friends. Often times there’s also music in the air. It’s not a place where you feel the need to have a light up toy, especially if you’re trying to get some sleep.
Let’s also not forget that toys glowing in the back seat can also distract the driver.
Glow Pets TV commercial – Visiting grandma can be a jaw-dropping experience.
Another selling point with the Glow Pets is that you can take it to grandma’s house with you.
Wait. What?
Being able to take a stuffed animal to grandma’s house is a selling point? Doesn’t that fall into a category called “the bleeding obvious”? Yet somehow the advertisers felt the need to inform us of this ability as if we were born yesterday.
We’re also show how the child’s pajamas “fit right inside” of a Glow Pet, but that’s really a stretch. It’s obvious that the Glow Pet was never meant to be used as a carrying case. Just because it can fold in half doesn’t mean that you should stick items there and expect the stuffed animal to hold it.
Glow Pets TV commercial – As long as the child is happy and doesn’t mind using a stuffed animal as a pillow.
In a single word you have the biggest selling point of the Glow Pets toys.
These toys were designed to be comforting to children. They’re soft, they come in friendly animal designs, and they glow when you press the button in the animal’s paw. A product like this can help children conquer their fear of the dark.
Glow Pets TV commercial – The big promotion!
The end of the commercial tells us to go online or call the phone number to order our Glow Pets. The only promotion here is that once you purchase a Glow Pet at full price, each additional Glow Pet stuffed animal is half off.
The fine print at the bottom of the website mentions that shipping and handling costs $7.95. There’s also a Web Service Fee of $1 added to each online order. Nevada and New Jersey residents will also have to pay a state/local sales tax.
The TOTAL COST of a single Glow Pet online order costs $38.90 ($29.95 + $7.95 S&H + $1 Web Service Fee).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Despite the sarcasm and other mockery in this article, the Glow Pet actually seems like a decent idea as a night toy for kids. I probably would have had one when I was five years old.
Glow Pets are actually fairly expensive toys, especially for an as-seen-on-TV product. Almost $40 for a stuffed animal that lights up? Really? Of course, Walmart carries many of the Glow Pets and they cost between $20 and $30 each. You’re paying sales tax instead of shipping and handling, but if the product is disappointing or turns out to be cheap crap, it’s much easier returning it to Wally World than mailing it back and not having your S&H fees refunded.
The most questionable part of the Glow Pet advertisement is when the scenarios show kids using the stuffed animals as a pillow. These are stuffed animals toys that also function as pillows. Remember that toys are commonly carried and used outside of the bedroom, and they commonly get dirty. Do you want your kid to take that same stuffed animal toy that gets carried everywhere and also use it as a pillow? Really?
My philosophy is that toys are toys and pillows are pillows. I’m not a germaphobe, but I’m not going to take my personal pillow and drag with it throughout the house and then use it as a pillow again that night. I’d make sure to change the pillow case first.
I can see the Glow Pets being fun as a toy for dark environments, such as when watching TV at night or when playing with friends. It could also be fun when girls have sleep overs.
Why wouldn’t boys play with Glow Pets? If a boy older than five years old is caught playing with a toy like this, then he’s going to be teased and ridiculed by his friends and classmates. If an older boy has one of these toys, then he needs to damn well better keep it a secret, or his social life is going to be destroyed.
As far as the advertisement for the Glow Pets, it’s what you should expect for an as-seen-on-TV commercial. The commercial focuses on a jingle and the perceived happiness from using the product rather than the practicality of just such a product. Is it a coincidence that nearly every scene with the Glow Pets is in a fairly brightly lit environment? Why don’t we ever see the Glow Pets in a dark room?
The fact that we don’t see any realistic examples tells me that the advertisers are hiding something about the product. In this case it would be the Glow Pets true luminosity, or how bright it *really* glows.
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All of the Glow Pets commercial images are screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on the product’s website. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.GlowPets.com.
Glow Pets is a registered trademark.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Glow Pets.