Roll-n-Glow: "a work of engineering genius from the China coast"

Amish Space Heater: Is That an Oxymoron?

Excerpt:

The ads, which have been around for more than a year but have been running with increasing frequency this winter, have become something of a sensation themselves, turning the Roll-n-Glow into a next-wave Clapper. Appearing in publications as varied as National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, Parade and The New York Times, and on local TV stations across the country in the form of an infomercial, they have given rise to much word-of-mouth speculation and online commentary.

Web sites and blogs have debated the merits of the product and parsed the curious and sometimes byzantine wording of the ad copy, which describes the heater as being given away for free, though to get one customers must buy a $298 oak mantel (cherry is $338; sold alone, the heater is $249). The infomercial, meanwhile, has given rise to a number of spoofs on YouTube.

The aspect of the ads that seems to have stirred the most interest is the claims they make about the involvement of the Amish.

In December 2007, soon after the ads first appeared, a reader of the product review site alternativeconsumer.com suggested that there was something absurd about the idea of an Amish man inventing a “miracle” space heater, considering that the Amish have traditionally been wary of modern technology.

Comment: I've actually managed to miss the ads until last week when my daughter pointd it out to me in the Sunday Star Tribune.