Consumers Ticked On When Fake Watch Didn’t Live Down to Its Advertising
I told of a couple who came across a sign that said, “Genuine Fake Watches” in Hungary. Which caught the interest of Dennis Thompsett of Beverly Hills, inventor of the “Genuine Fake Russian Watchski” (see photo).
The gadget, decorated with a garish Soviet red star, hammer and sickle, is described as “unusually inaccurate ... totally unresistant to water ... guaranteed for 20 years not to work ... [and accompanied by] the world’s most brutal user manual.” And not cheap, either, at $299.
Strangely enough, Thompsett said, when he initially advertised the gadget, it was make-believe -- he advertised it to gather marketing research for his ad agency.
Alas, he said, “the watch was so ugly that it caught on.” He had to start having the timepieces manufactured. George Bush the elder even bought one.
And Thompsett survived a kind of reverse expose by the Wall Street Journal, which found that the Genuine Fake Russian Watch-ski actually works pretty well. That’s the media for you -- always stirring things up.
But where were we? Oh, yes. Thompsett wonders whether the Hungarian shop is selling one of his genuine fake watches or merely an imitation genuine fake watch.
Unreal estate: Today’s featured properties (see accompanying) include a house that guarantees unusual privacy for bathers (from Betty Wielkiewicz of Tujunga) and a house that frankly has some drawbacks (Linda Vandercook of Laguna Beach).
Ex-husbands and other animals: I’m still hearing from readers about librarian Cindy Mirallegro’s campaign to have “wasband” accepted as a synonym for ex-hubby.
Lila Wolkoff of L.A. pointed out that “to espouse” means to marry, which leads her to conclude that “to expouse” would be to divorce.
And there’s no reason why a synonym for a divorced person couldn’t be “expouse,” I suppose.
Another type of ex: Margaret Kogon of Burbank says that after her niece Andrea got married, “instead of introducing her new spouse as her ‘husband,’ she started introducing him as her ‘ex-boyfriend.’ Hey, it’s technically correct ....”
McMystery: Rob Mack of Rancho Palos Verdes reports that a neon McDonald’s sign out his way “suddenly became ‘McDo’ as five letters mysteriously faded to black.” Someone named Mack would notice such a thing, I think. Another oddity was that Mack would see the sign while returning from his church, whose pastor is named MacDonald (first name Byron). Anyway, there’s an ex-Mac in the area. The eatery shut down. McDo became McDon’t.
MiscelLAny: The L.A. Business Journal reports that Encino’s Skin Spa offers massages of oils mixed with coffee grounds ($100 for an hour; no free refills). But what about a decaf rubdown for us older folks?
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083; by fax at (213) 237-4712; by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012; and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
