It’s easy to fall for the hype when it comes to products you only see in TV adverts that you purchase by calling an 800-number and using one of your credit cards.
I hate those copper coated fry pans that were excessively advertised in the mid 2010s.
They promised to give you a near magical kind of non-stick cooking surface that allegedly allowed you to flip a slice of cheese on high heat like a thin slice of butter. I didn’t want to try them, but my husband insisted when he saw the ad like everyone else who still has one of those dreaded pans hiding somewhere in their kitchen cabinets. We ordered the pan and waited a few weeks for the parcel to arrive in the mail. My husband was shocked when the pan ended up being less efficient than our ceramic-coated pots and pans. I wasn’t surprised, but I had to let my husband learn from the experience. We gave it to one of our kids when they left for college and told them to grease the pan before using it like stainless steel cookware. But the most scammy made-for-TV product that I’ve seen recently are these little things called “personal air coolers” which are nothing more than cheap evaporative coolers using computer fans inside. Since evaporative coolers only work in dryer climates, you can’t really expect to use them in a tent camping in a region with high humidity at night. That little personal air cooler will be nothing more than a paperweight with a fan inside.