About a month or so ago, I started seeing infomercials for the Schticky. That whack Sham Wow guy is back hawking the reusable silicone lint roller. There's a similar product being peddled by the heir to the late Billy Mays. It struck me as funny because I have one of those things around here somewhere. My inherited pack rat gene does not allow me to throw the thing away though we never use it. It's something we have courtesy of the hubs' ex, so I know it is at least twenty years old.
Which got me thinking about the Atkins diet and low carbing in general. And the name "Schticky" brings with it its own connotations vis a vis one Gary Taubes use of the word schtick in describing scientists. The similarities are many:
- It works very well the first time on most things
- It has come back after a hiatus from the "As Seen on TV" world
- It doesn't work as well after you wash it, especially if you don't let it dry fully before using it the next time
- It comes with a 10 year warranty implying it will work for the long haul. (For the record, mine still works, but it's not been used more than a handful of times for all these years)
- It works well on lint, but the promoters over sell it for all sorts of uses it would be inefficient to use it for
- Having one in the house keeps you from buying one of those good old fashioned masking tape style rollers that work every time for the original purpose so long as you have a fresh sheet on them.
- There's the Schticky and then there are knock-offs
As Fatman's sidekick boy wonder Glucagon was trying to explain why obesity hasn't been cured even though low carbing has been around for eons, I couldn't help but think of the Schticky. Why would anyone have anything else if this thing really did deliver on all the promises -- and all for $19.95!! Waging his war on insulin, Peter Attia MD (never practiced medicine after residency) is the new Vince Offer (that's the crazy Sham Wow dude's name) of low carb. He was the co-sponsor of Taubes' publicity stunt wherein between the petition and many who left comments essentially bemoaned how Tara Parker-Pope was 60 lbs overweight because she just hadn't applied the right cure. Perhaps she should try a Schticky to remove the fat ;-) As I tweeted, Attia misses the point. Atkins has (a) been around forever, and (b) been repackaged and resold over and over and over. And yet not only has it not replaced the need for any other approach to weight loss, the landscape is littered with "users" left wanting. Much like that Schticky in my drawer ...
