Sham Wow?

Does it really do that? It’s something we’ve wondered (sometimes aloud) while watching a late night infomercial or even checking out the latest offerings on QVC. But is it really worth it to go and buy that crap, decide if it works or not and then return it? Besides you might not get your shipping and handling charges back, then what? You’re stuck with a chopper that can cut through a tin can but not make it through the tomato as promised.

One of these products that I’ve seen lately is the ShamWow. For those of you who haven’t seen this guy (Vince Offer) hawk this space-aged shamy towel with his headset and haitr arms...A) you are really missing a true piece of TV History...better then Ron Popeil pushing the fuzzy hairspray B) You get to buy a product from a true “Jerk” (Slate put it best by saying, “Hey, this guy's a douche. He needs a better haircut.”) and C) you don’t know that at $19.99 it’s better then paper towels (which, according to the commercial, you are going to spend $20/month on....who the hell spends $20 on paper towels for a month??? Maybe for 2-3 months work if you buy that extra large, Costco-sized version). Anyway I saw this wonderful product in a local home store the other day (the one that has Bed and Bath products as well as a “Beyond” section), and I contemplated dropping a Benjamin on it but pulled back at the last moment. How do I know if it really works like that? I don’t have a fancy headset and a small swatch of carpet that I can pour soda on to test the absorbency of this futuristic fiber.

Fortunately for me and all of you who have the same lack of faith in these so called “wonder products”, the good folks over at Popular Mechanics magazine have tested a number of these and give their impartial reviews. You can see the results here.

The over-hyped, washable rag did just ok...it didn’t meet all expectations but it didn’t fail miserably either. I think the take away here is that I don’t need it for $20 as much as I need either 20 Carmel Apple Empanadas from Taco Bell, or even this stuff.