Hoover's rolling out the the Z700, "the World's First Sport Utility Vacuum," the very latest in fauxtilitarian design. (And yours for just $550!) How dirty does your house have to be to feel the need for something like this? Apparently the Hummer Alpha was just the beginning...
tag: fauxtilitarian
8 Responses
Thank you for being their target male and calling them on this one... and tell me again why they'd waste $25 million on this campaign.
Let's see, women make 80% of the consumer decisions,47% of them are single with no male influence at all, those with the male influence are still doing 60% or more of the housework which means pushing a heavy vacuum or one that "sound's heavy" around isn't a good time... is the product so poor that it can't win on it on merits? Give me my light weight, yet powerful Oreck any day... and more sane male consumers.
Jesus, who ARE these people? If you're someone who is willing to spend over 500 bucks on a vacuum cleaner, e-mail me. I've got a bridge I'd like to sell!
Happy to be of service, Mary. I really do wonder who's in the target demo for this thing. It looks too heavy, clunky and gadget-y to appeal to most women. And I suspect that most men think vacuum cleaners are delivered in the middle of the night by the Housecleaning Fairy.
I know Hoover's pimping this thing hard because there's been a surprisingly large number of people visiting this site searching for for it. I guess they felt that Sport Utility Vacuum was just too cool a tagline not to use it. I look forward to seeing the campaigns for the Sport Utility Blender, Sport Utility Washer/Dryer and Sport Utility Waffle Iron!
I see that the site says that this vacuum is unlike any that you've "driven." Um, as far as I can tell, it doesn't appear that you can actually climb on this thing and ride it around your house like a riding lawnmower. So what's up with pretending that you can "drive" this vacuum? That's just sad and desperate marketing language.
I do not know what everyone has against this vacuum.. i kinda like it. Its not like this is the only 500 dollar vacuum out there. It seems like it has some good features. Being able to move across all surfaces with getting hung up on rugs and such or never having to replace a filter. Easy to do stairs. I like that household things are getting better and better. As they better they will eventually cost less too. So it sounds kind of stupid, but i think this is exciting.
Sarah, a few months ago I coined the term "fauxtilitarian" to describe products just like this vacuum cleaner. As I wrote at the time, "I love solidly-built, well-designed objects that are intended to be used hard and last a lifetime. And I'm as susceptible as the next consumer to the lure of an aspirational purchase."
And if companies like Hoover only stopped there, I couldn't really complain. But the whole idea of a "sport utility vacuum" is such over-the-top marketing idiocy that I just had to poke some fun at it.
But there's a serious point to be made as well. The trend toward "fauxtilitarian" design results in wasteful, inelegant products. The marketing campaigns concocted to sell these products either play on our anxieties or insult our intelligence.
The Hummer Alpha, the Z700--it seems like we're in some sort of utilitarian arms race.
Of course, if you actually buy a Z700, you have to post a review here, OK?
Don't get too down on this vacuum. The truth is it does a great job on carpet. Plus, the attachments and flexibility as an upright or canister is a plus. So is the spinning filter that cleans itself.
Don't get too up on this vacuum either! It is fairly heavy and difficult to navigate around narrow pathways in the home. On the other hand, the slim head slips under a lot a furniture with ease.
While it does a very good job on hard floors, we have a long fiber broom made in the Philippines that will pull dust out of corners, under the kitchen table, under the fridge and counters, etc. like nobody's business. No vacuum competes with that sucker especially for ease of use and speed.
The 20' hose with the included vacuum extension on the Z, will easily climb all walls sucking up those cob webs and do the same from ceiling fans.
Well, that's all I have to say. It is also quiet for large vacuum with good power.
Do I think it's worth $500?
No... that's why I got it from etronics.com for under $400 including shipping.
If you just want a basic GOOD vacuum for even less, get a Riccar. Excellent all around house vacuum with an incredible warranty. Not too hot on hard floors, but on carpets it great and light. Makes an Oreck look like a toy, sorry.
Actually all hype aside, this is one great vacuum cleaner. We have a Maine Coon cat that sheds enough fur on a daily basis for several cats and our five year old Hoover Wind Tunnel upright just wasn't up to the task. I was constantly having to change the bag or unclog the machine. When it finally gave up the ghost two days ago, I bought a Z700 and all I can say is "Wow!" The thing has amazing suction and picked up embedded fur that the last cleaner skimmed over. The 20' hose is perfect for doing stairs and made that chore an easy task. The transparent dirt container makes it easy to see when it needs to be dumped and is a snap to empty. The soft keypad will change the height of the agitator simply by pressing the desired key and if the wrong key is pressed as I found out, the machine shuts itself off. Granted it weighs in at 27 pounds so it's not a lightweight machine by any means but I had no problems maneuvering around the areas I needed to get to. One of the cool things about it is you can use it either as a canister or an upright simply by pulling a ring on the front of the vacuum. Another nice feature is it folds for easy storage. It's relatively quiet for a vacuum cleaner as well. I bought mine for under the retail price just by shopping around and recommend the Z700 to anyone who likes the job done right the first time.