Most bizarre thing seen in the shops recently: DVD Fireplace, $19.99.
Clive James used to show this kind of thing on his TV show. Video fish tanks, fireplaces, washing machines… does anybody really buy this stuff?
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DVD Fireplace
8 replies on “DVD Fireplace”
daniel
reminds me of the Leunig cartoon of a father pointing to a TV set, showing his son a sunrise, when out the window, the real thing is happening!
rog
Reminds of when I was in Canada many years ago and a friend said a small television station used a video of a fireplace to test their signals. But when they removed it people complained because they liked having it on, found it relaxing.
Ha…the last firm I worked for decided to not give their employees expected raises, and then decided to skip out on giving them promised christmas bonuses too. Shortly afterwards it was revealed that the 3 senior associates were given massive raises and bonuses (think in the order of high 6 figures each) so that they could have the funds to buy out the owner of the firm who wanted to retire. And one of the first things the new owners did when they took over the firm was spend $14,000 on a plasma screen tv for the reception area, and the only damn thing they ever played on the tv was that stupid fire place scene. All of us unrewarded employees were constantly reminded of how little we were thought of every time we walked past that tv and saw what should have been our raises and christmas bonuses burning away inside that tv screen. The senior associates had always taken credit for everyone else’s work all the time and seemed to do nothing but play golf every other day while the rest of us worked our butts off, so there was little respect for them in the first place, so when these jerks became the new owners it was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Within two months, more than half of the 3 dozen employees quit. One of the guys that decided he’d had enough, made a video of him ripping up his contract and throwing it into his fireplace, then turning to the camera with a big smile on his face and waved “goodbye.” He put it on a dvd, came to work early on a friday morning and put it on loop replay on the TV and left. It was beautiful. It sure brought a wicked smile to everyone’s faces.
These fireplace videos have been around for years. First they were an endless loop of video tape and now they are in DVD. They are heavly advertised and sold around Thanksgiving and Christmas time.
I got the fishtank one when I first got into DVD back in 1998 – thought it would be a great idea, played it once, and never played it again.. that was 99c down the drain (back in the day of bargain DVDs from the US via a combination of various schemes ;)).
I have the fireplace, fishtank, and a few others. The fireplace makes you feel warm on a cold night. Also the making of on the DVD is fantastic, their search for the ultimate flame and just the right fireplace. Also the fish are cheaper than the real thing and you don’t have to fead them and just turn them off when you are sick of them.
I like your story Casey :). The CBA in Alice Springs has a Great Barrier Reef DVD always on (with the sound turned down) many people watch it while they are lining up for the tellers. I must admit the wait doesn’t seem as long. Might be alright for crowd control.
I’ve also got the fireplace one. It’s the full deal – with or without music. Big flames or embers. It’s even got a “making of” section, which was actually funny.
Like Steven says, it’s a warm feeling. Plus it’s a nice noise to have on in the background. At night, with all the lights down, it’s pretty neat.