Qian As bought by Jacey: The Happy Hamster ‘As Seen on TV’ product evaluation seg. ae re you a sad and lonely individual? Crave the love and affection that pets give you but hate the responsibility that comes with them? Well, throw out that old walking, breathing time-commitment and say hello to The Happy Hamster! As a person that could double as the grim reaper of pets, it’s as if this product was designed with people like me in mind. This furry robotic hamster comes either in its own roaming ball, exercise wheel or simply on its own. I'd first like to commend the Happy Hamster on the realism one is subjected to upon a passing glance, since while walking by I thought there was indeed a hamster peddling away in his wheel on the store shelf. The same can be said when watching the ball variation as it moved precisely, with an almost determined pace, across the display table, with one even on an assembled track. Not sure how I feel about the simple free-roaming type of Happy Hamster though. - When I first started writing this article, I found myself in quite the predicament: did I love this robotic fur ball or loathe the very idea of it? On the one hand, I took note that this product is one of the few ‘As Seen on TV’ items. targeted specifically towards children, so having a twenty year old male evaluate it might not be the best idea. However, I respect the novelty of the item a great deal. For a while now, I’ve made jokes 12 remarks that The Other Press needed a pet in our office. Now that this bundle of electronics has made its way into my life, I no longer have to make such comments. Seems like everyone’s a winner in this . situation. But, as there usually is with these ‘miracle products, there’s a rather critical design flaw. The stupid thing is obnoxiously loud. In the store, the Happy Hamster peddled away in his wheel without causing too much commotion. However, when I took the little guy home and popped a pair of triple As in him, I was greeted with a symphony of noises as the wheel rattled and the hamster treaded heavily within. I can’t even imagine having this thing going for more than five minutes at a time. I know I’m only adding to the success of the ‘As Seen on TV’ empire by purchasing these items and evaluating them, but I think it’s time I stopped seeing myself as a David to its Goliath. If people want to waste their disposable income on backwards housecoats and kitchen accessories that are specially designed to only perform one task, I say go for it. Just know that if a commercial claims a product is too good to be true, it probably is. Evaluation: C-: This isn’t something that claims it’s going to change your life or make your daily routine easier; it’s a robotic hamster in ’ awheel! But somehow they figured a way to screw it up and make this furry companion unbearable to have around. This purchase definitely didn’t make me a Happy Human. Conscious consumption Paying the price for low-cost production By Maria Ismailzai ake up, smell the fair trade coffee! As long as we keep supporting the unethical production of goods, high prices will continue to force us away from things that are produced ethically. Of course, economic growth requires consumerism, but lets start consuming with the environment in mind. Some companies have even started to, rather hypocritically, market themselves as eco-friendly. But of course they know people still prefer economically friendly over eco-friendly. Companies will do all sorts of things to get products like clothing, fast food or groceries to North Americans at competitive prices. Multinational corporations (MNC) extract resources at an unreplenishable rate in an environmentally damaging fashion for short-term gains. MNC’s get cheap labour from countries around the globe that don’t have environmental or labour regulations in place. Then they pay their store employees $8/ hour with no benefits. That’s why we’re able to buy everything under a dollar. Part of the price was paid for by the cheap labour attained overseas, the $8/ hour employee and the environment. Ever been to Walmart? The market strives to reflect and fill consumer demands. Right now, the demand seems to be for cheap crap that falls apart within a month of buying it. For example, my girlfriends are obsessed with a store in the mall called “Stiches”. They replicate clothing from more expensive stores and then sell them for under $20. On top of that, they routinely have some variance of 75% off sale as well. One friend was super stoked recently because she bought a dress for $4 at Stitches. She said even if she only gets one wear out of it before it falls apart at the seams— which it did—it will have paid itself off. “Ill just go buy it again”. It may have paid itself off for her, but what about the people along the way that paid a part of that price? “T’ll just go buy it again” gives me a vision of my hamster running on his wheel. At least Stiches doesn’t claim to care about the environment. Some companies have caught onto people’s sympathy towards environmental degradation. Ever seen Tim Horton’s “We care about the environment, buy one of our reusable mugs” campaign? Well I bought one of their mugs and tried using it when they had their “Rrroll up the rim to win” promotion (which encourages people NOT to reuse their mug). They filled my mug with coffee and then handed me an empty paper cup so that I didn’t lose my chance to “Rrroll up the rim”. Of course they don’t care about the environment but at least I know that they listen to what people want: so start talking. Even when you ’re not buying fast food you have to be aware of different options and what their implications are. Why buy 100% organic eggs for $6 when you can get eggs triple the size for a quarter of the price? For one, organic eggs aren’t genetically modified and the others could be. In most of Europe, companies are forced to label their products when they’re genetically modified. In Canada and the U.S., there are no such laws. We don’t know what the long term implications of eating G.M. foods are, and that should be reason enough for people to want to avoid it. The more people that buy the 100% organic, the more companies will offer it, and the price will thereby become more competitive. Many people criticize companies that jump on the green movement bandwagon. ‘They claim that these companies are using eco-friendliness as a marketing strategy. Although their efforts are counterproductive to environmental preservation (they’re trying to sell more stuff which will lead to extraction of more resources), and often very hypocritical, at least we know that they’re in-tune to what people want. Let’s let them know we want eco-friendly products at prices that not just the CEO’s of the very companies offering them can afford.