Maytag Man

Remember the Maytag commercial, featuring a sleepy technician (to project the image of dependability, hence no break down)?

Now, even with the upcoming cash-for-clunkers rebates on home appliances, I am not sure Whirlpool (Maytag owner) salesmen will jump up for joy.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_36/b4145032672563.htm

Unlike cars (mobile), home appliances are bulky and are  static like home furnishing.

Out of sight, out of mind (go to the fridge when you need s/t to eat, get to the washer when your need s/t to wear).

Frequency of use is key. And only when it breaks down that home owners think about replacement.

A few years back, there was a video clip showing a cable guy falling asleep on the customer’s couch, apparently being put on hold by his own company while trying to activate the install.

Tech on call or on-line, both are asleep at the wheel.

We live in a nation in need of caffeine, BOLD.

We see ” a Year in Province” “Under a Tuscany Sun” etc…. we think those lifestyles are so “otherworldly” (for the artsy divorces, with a good settlement, not for us, who still need to make a living.)

Vacationing in the country, away from it all? Tell that to the Godfathers, who left Sicily for America. Once here, Charlie Chaplin is on-Net. America, the system, has been turned on. Non-stop. Factory style, meal on wheels. “People in motion, people in motion, if you come to San Francisco”.

I saw it coming: once movies like CARS (cartoon) had some success, we should expect to see APPLIANX . In fact, Bill Gates in The Speed of Thoughts envisioned appliances talking to one another (or at least, we can pre-program the heater on the way  home from work. Now, that’s energy efficiency).

If that is the case, consumers will be motivated to trade up their appliances for smarter ones. In other words,

instead of urging trade-ins from the energy efficiency angle (push) we should pitch the high-tech appliances (pull) and energy efficiency as a by-product. Consumers are found “irrational” (consult “Predictably Irrational” by Ariely).

Even though appliances are invented to make our lives easier, automobiles for instance take on a life of their own,

and often times, define who we are, with more bells and whistles (flat screen TV on the fridge’s door, fax, phone and printer, the office trinity) . And the manuals that come inside the packaging box grow larger with Spanish, French and Chinese instructions (juicers, grinders, light switch clap clap).

Gosh, I miss Billy May. We need a pitch man, with a high pitched voice. A homely figure who can stand in for Tim Allen on his day off ( just like  weekend Network news anchor to keep the time slot) at Home Improvement.

We will get through this hard time with smaller cars, smarter appliances and a stronger will to survive.

Not sure about those Maytag guys though. Will they still be found asleep at the wheel ? I am sure after the Maytag buy out, they will have to field complaint calls for a product mix, and with fewer Maytag men, chances are, if they ever dose off at all, it will be a very short nap.