Invention is the Mother of Marketing

A popular gift item this year seems to be those blankets that you can live in. It has semi-sleeves sewn into it, and I suppose there's some walking accommodation. Basically, you can carry your bed around with you all day. Now if they would find a way to attach a pillow.... The best invention since elastic waistbands.
Another interesting invention is the fake Christmas tree that has detachable branches. Unlike the artificial trees that come pre-lit and simply fold up after the season to be jolly is over, the detachable branches must be assembled and disassembled every year. When we first got ours, I thought it was a hassle. Then as the color-coded bands wore off, it became a challenge. Finally this year, after giving up all hope of ending up with a cone-shaped tree, I just plugged them in the best I could. And the remarks I got about my tree this year, you might wonder? “Did you do a real tree this year?” “Is that real?” “What a nice tree you got this year.” Yes, it's true. If you put those branches on in the wrong places, it looks like a natural fir.
But when it comes to clever invention, packaging always impresses me. Designed to sell product more than to hold it, the containers that products come in are works of art. Whenever I take a detergent bottle to the recycle bin I think it is just too nice to throw away, and isn't there something I could use it for. Of course, there isn't. For several years now I have been trying to think of some use for vividly colored, gracefully shaped containers and have come up empty. I have to face it, no matter how I try to make them into something, they still end up looking like empty detergent bottles.
Nancy Sherer