As Seen on TV Products for the Kitchen

The Slap Chop

The claim: Chop, dice, and mince in seconds without switching blades.

The reviews: Nearly all of the customer reviews mention that the vegetables get stuck on the blade rather than actually getting chopped. With a 1.4 average rating, this product appears to be a dud. One Slap Chop review says, “my dull false teeth could do better“. Ouch.

Bottom line: You’re better off using a knife or putting your $20 towards a food processor.

Always Fresh Containers

The claim: They keep food fresh up to 50 days longer than other containers.

The reviews: The Always Fresh Containers get mixed reviews. While eleven people give it a five star rating, nearly as many give them only one star. Fans say they save money by keeping food fresh much longer. One reviewer says, “broccoli and celery rotted in record time in these containers. i had much better luck using a zip lock freezer bag.”

Bottom line: Try at your own risk.

The Magic Bullet

The claim: This all purpose tool can do most kitchen jobs in 10 seconds or less.

The reviews: Most of the Magic Bullet reviews were positive. One reviewer makes everything from smoothies to scrambled eggs and says, “It takes the place of several larger appliances and really saves lots of space on the kitchen counter. ” However, many reviewers note problems with the durability.

Bottom line: Versatile tool, but don’t get too attached.

As Seen on TV Fitness Equipment

The Perfect Pushup

The claim: Supercharge your workout…maximizing strength and definition while minimizing the risks of joint strain and injury.

The reviews: The Perfect Pushup gets almost perfect marks in the product reviews for quality & results. Users also love that they can work their upper bodies without wrist pain, and some started to see results in as little as three weeks.

The bottom line: A quality home gym product for improving upper body strength without wrist pain.

The Ab Rocket

The claim: Ab Rocket gives you the abs you’ve always wanted in 5 minutes a day.

The reviews: With an average star rating of 3.7, the Emson Ab Rocket works for some, but not all. The main complaint is that the machine doesn’t provide enough resistance to produce results.  Ab Rocket enthusiasts give it good reviews as a great alternative to sit-ups.

The bottom line: If you hate sit-ups, this might be a good alternative, but don’t expect washboard abs.

The Iron Gym Pull Up Bar

The claim: Get strong. Get ripped. Quick! Attaches & removes from door frame in seconds!

The reviews: Most reviewers are very impressed with the easy installation process for Iron Gym. They find it “sturdy” and high quality. Some who try to use the bar for sit-ups find it less than stellar, but otherwise satisfactory.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for an easy to install pull-up bar, this one will do the job.

As Seen on TV Electronics

The Clapper

The claim: Turn your lights on and off automatically with a clap of your hands!

The reviews: Users says it’s good for lights that are hard to get to, and a fun novelty item. Most note that is also finicky & takes a bit of practice to get right.

Bottom line: Not quite perfect, but it has its uses.

The MagicJack

The claim: make and receive calls to anywhere in the United States and Canada for free using your high-speed Internet connection.

The reviews: Many find hassles with the product from poor sound quality to inadequate customer service and documentation. Though the device requires your computer to be running to work, lots of people are excited about the cost savings.

Bottom line: A good backup to your home phone, but stick with a real VoIP provider if you want quality.

Sonic Earz

The claim: Amplifies sound from 60 feet away.

The reviews: The average rating for this product is just 2.2. While some users write that it improved their hearing range, others complain about the poor sound quality, interference, and short battery life.

Bottom line: Set the volume high & your expectations low.

“October has been a month of milestones for Buzzillions. This weekend, the site hit the mark of 1 million products on the site. With 6.9 million product reviews,  that’s almost 7 reviews per product. At the same time, Buzzillions has seen a record number of users on the site & consumer demand for customer reviews has never been higher. Given this remarkable growth & the strength of our small team, I am very confident that Buzzillions can become the leading destination for consumers who are looking both for product inspiration as well as affirmation.”

Oral B electric toothbrush  reviews

Sonicare ratings & product reviews

Some shoe models like these have over 1,000 product reviews:

Casual Shoes with over 1,000 product reviews:

• Dansko Professional
• Sperry Top-sider
• Rockport World Tour

Sandals with over 1,000 reviews:

• Kids’ Keen Newport

Sneakers with over 1,000 customer ratings:

• Converse All-Star Lo

How many reviews does your favorite shoe have?

Dude, seriously?

Fast forward three months & I found myself shelling out a month’s rent on a brand new road bike.  Ironically, what brought me to this hypocritical juncture was my love of running. My self-diagnosed achilles tendonitis had been hampering me since well before the Wildflower race thanks to up to 50 miles of running a week. With a marathon closing in a few short months, something had to change.  Not quite ready to hang up the racing shoes altogether, I decided to focus on my training on quality, not quantity, with liberal amounts of cross training. I started prepping for my October marathon using the FIRST training program – three days of running and two or three days of cross training every week. The theory goes that cross training allows for better recovery between running sessions & prevents injury. Perfect.

Being a miserable swimmer, I chose biking as my cross training method. After checking reviews & taking the Specialized Allez & the Trek 1.2 WSD for a test ride, I bought the latter at my local bike store in exchange for my minimalist-runner soul & a good chunk of cash. A few days in & my achilles seems a little bit better. Hopefully, this will all pay off come race day. As for triathlons, I don’t see one in my future, but I know better than to say never.

Quick and painless baby zapper

If the picture is anything to go by, there’s a new product on the market designed to zap your baby’s forehead quickly & efficiently. In actuality, it’s a Kidz MedThermofocus Non-Contact Thermometer that gets great reviews.

Appearance Schedule

Syndicated “DayTime” –July 30th

NYC CW11 Morning News –Aug 4th

Philly WCAU NBC The 10! Show –Aug 5th

Wash DC WUSA CBS Morning News –Aug 6th

Miami WPLG ABC Morning News –Aug 8th

Chicago WGN Morning News –Aug 11th

Houston KHOU CBS Great Day Houston –Aug 12th

Atlanta CBS Morning News –Aug 13th

San Francisco KGO ABC A View From The Bay –Aug 18th

Seattle KING NBC Morning News –Aug 20th TBA

A recent Wall Street Journal article alleges that a dozen rave reviews of espresso machines on Amazon were written by the DeLonghi brand’s employee. Russ Taylor, an Amazon enthusiast looking for a new espresso machine, was suspicious when he noticed 12 positive reviews on DeLonghi products written by the same person.  He went to Google to investigate further & found that the person was actually a DeLonghi employee. After he raised the issue with Amazon, the reviews were removed. DeLonghi admitted that the reviews came from within their ranks, but denied any wrongdoing.

Also in the news, the FTC has decided to take on bloggers who write product reviews for pay or product kickbacks. The practice is prevalent among bloggers with loyal followings, and there are even e-books that tell would-be bloggers how to cash in. While many writers give honest assessments of products, it’s not hard to imagine that many are less than objective.

So goes the double-edged sword of consumer generated content. The same tools regular consumers use to speak their minds are susceptible to manipulation by brand advocates, manufacturers & profit-seeking bloggers. Does the misuse of reviews amount to fraud? Perhaps, but it certainly makes the job of a product researcher that much more difficult.

Wherever you get your product reviews, these tips will help you avoid bogus feedback:

Ask questions

Many bloggers have advertising disclosures or FAQ that will tell you who their sponsors are & whether they accept payment for posts. If you don’t find such information, take the next step of emailing the writer to get some clarification. If everything is on the up & up they should have no problem disclosing their policies to you. Similarly, on review sites, you should be able to find out where reviews come from by consulting the FAQ or About Us page.

Know the warning signs of fake reviews

Many glowing reviews on a product or brand line written by one person are a good warning sign, as is unnatural “sales-y” sounding language. Conversely, you might see marketers or brand advocates littering competitors’ products with negative reviews. If you see several reviews on a product written in short succession that don’t fit in with the others (much higher rating or much lower rating) you might have a fake.

Test the process

Many review sites & shopping comparison engines allow anyone to post reviews & do little in the way of oversight.  Try writing your own review. Are you prompted to login or can you leave a review on the fly? Does your review show up instantaneously or is there a lag for it to be checked over? The more your own review is scrutinized, the better; you know others are held to the same standard.

Report abuse

If you see potentially fraudulent reviews, contact the site administrator with examples of the problem reviews.  At best, you’ll be able to get the issue investigated & the suspect reviews removed. At worst, you’ll be able to guage how seriously the site takes the problem by its response or lack thereof.

For information on how Buzzillions combats fake reviews & verifies authentic product owners, see the following articles:

http://blogs.buzzillions.com/2009/05/07/buzzillions-and-the-case-of-the-anonymous-reviewer/

http://blogs.buzzillions.com/2008/07/15/how-do-i-know-who-wrote-this-review/

Ingredients

lots of Marshmallow Fluff

lots of peanut butter

2 pieces bread (preferably Wonder Bread)

Directions: Liberally spread peanut butter on one slice of bread. Even more liberally spread Marshmallow Fluff onto the other piece of bread. Close sandwich, eat, & enjoy the stickyness.

• Two great brands
• Over 10,000 new products
• More than 100,000 new product reviews

A little video about New Balance’s Skowhegan, Maine factory: