Not too long ago my room mate's friends
came down for a weekend. We all had a grand old time (with some
craziness mixed in, though that's too long of a story) and at the end
of the weekend, one of the girls gave my room mate and me Fortune
Telling Fish. A proud product of Pier 1 Imports (a furniture/home
goods/decorative items store), the Fortune Telling Fish comes in a
little plastic envelope which warns you that it is not a toy (Fortune
Telling Fish are a serious business you guys, note the capital
letters) and that it is not intended for children under the age of
eight years. Essentially, this Fortune Telling Fish is a piece of red
plastic film, cut in the shape of a fish (vaguely reminiscent of
Swedish Fish). You put it on your hand and it's supposed to move.
Based on its various movements, the fish can tell you your
fortune...er sort of?
It's a miracle!
It's doing strenuous ab exercises.
The second problem has more to do with
vague language. So, all right, I will disregard the mistaken labeling
of “fortunes” for this fish, but then the descriptions should at
least be good. But they're not. Some of the fish movements are
indicated as “turns over” and “curls up entirely”. But when
you actually put the fish on your hand, it pretty much goes through
variations of all of the motions described, so ultimately, you end up
being jealous, indifferent, in love, fickle, false, a “Dead One”,
and passionate. All the the same time.
Oh, boy! So much variety!
The problem lies not in the fact that I
am taking life advice from a fish made of plastic film, but in the
fact that it's infuriatingly inaccurate! And, you know, it misuses
the English language and misleads the public!
But what can you expect from a 25 cent
Fish. Though really, I don't see how it could possibly be even worth
that much.
And despite the 448 words that I have
just written degrading the Fortune Telling Fish, I still very much
appreciate the fact that my room mate's friend thought of me at all.
So thanks, Melissa.
Images courtesy of:
http://www.fortunetellerfish.com/images/fish11.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gXbaFEuH5uc/THr7E_axceI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/FmxctcA9QXo/s1600/IMG_2795.JPG
http://www.fortunetellerfish.com/images/00230.jpg
A perfect addition for the impulse buy section at the check out line! ^_^ While it is really goofy when you think about its' simplicity (paper and a bit of plastic that isn't of particular quality, just really clever) I can see the kids I babysit insist on buying one. In fact, even though it really isn't considered a toy, I could see them play with one of these longer than an actual toy. It just reinforces that if you have a good use or personification of something, you can take any chunk of junk and make it a money making hit. :D
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