Retrospectacle: A Neuroscience Blog

Well, apparently you make it *pink.* This is just weird.

“We wanted to make sure that it was something that people were comfortable carrying and didn’t make it look like they were ‘Dirty Harry,’” said Tom Smith, the company’s co-founder and board chairman, referring to the Clint Eastwood movie.

“And it does the job.”

What’s next, snap-on outfit coordinating covers and dangly charms? Wait, what if a tiny cute taser WAS a dangly cellphone charm?! Well, it’s already big in Japan.

i-c62f20defa4949cb843d701d73b39ac0-seal taser 2.jpg
Who would think this cute little guy is a taser?

i-44e05e5e42ef5c5593e419eca9b827bf-cute seal taser.jpg

Don’t worry, it only gives a slight “zap” to (as the website says) keep creepy businessmen away.

Comments

#1 Warren
November 13, 2007

Hmm, I’d think a big, lumpy, ugly and menacing taser would be a lot more effective as a deterrent than something that looks like a “lady” electric razor.

I like the cute little charm, though, and expect it to infiltrate Junior High schools all across the US within 6 months.
#2 Thony C.
November 13, 2007

Does this mean a whole new set of come on lines such as; “Hey Babe I wanna get zapped by you!”
#3 Sunny
November 13, 2007

Well I think the cellphone charm taser is actually something that would be useful in Japan. I remember reading somewhere that groping on commuter trains is actually considered a real hobby there. That of course begs the questions of why can’t they just make do with a punch to the face or a knee to the groin like New Yorkers.
#4 Ed
November 13, 2007

“Well, it’s already big in Japan.”

This is surely crying out for a Pikachu-shaped cover?
#5 Jonathan
November 13, 2007

A good friend has one of those pink seals… it HURTS, and gives one hell of a jolt! It’s definately cute though!
#6 Tom B
November 13, 2007

One wonders what people might mistake it for.
#7 Abby Normal
November 13, 2007

Speaking of tech for girls, have you seen the new Barbie Girl(tm) “toy”? It does a few different things. But most interesting to me is that it acts as security device allowing the girls into a secure chat room where they can talk with their best friends, free from the threat of predators. I gather it’s kind of like an RSA token with snap on hair. I’m not sure if I’m impressed, or just scared.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070426005373&newsLang=en
#8 Garibaldi's Underpants
November 14, 2007

Maybe this will help you cheer up.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9506252767
#9 David
November 15, 2007

At least the Hello Kitty AK47 was only a parody.
#10 Jon H
November 15, 2007

Is it just me, or wouldn’t it seem that a civilian taser (the dart-shooty kind) ought to be called the rape-a-tron or abduct-o-matic?

Some freak just has to sit in his van, or behind a bush, waiting for someone to walk past, and zap.
#11 Azkyroth
November 18, 2007

The only advantage I can see to camouflaging a less-than-lethal weapon as something innocuous is reducing the likelihood of an attacker recognizing it as a weapon and wrestling it away from the victim before it can be employed. Of course, if a given line all looks the same and the pictures of it are available online, the advantage is reduced…especially when it looks sleek and hair-care-producty rather than innocuous. I wonder if anyone’s thought to set up a business selling tasers with customized housings or the like.
#12 Brian X
November 20, 2007

WTF is up with this pink business anyway? I thought it only applied to women under the age of about four anyway, and thereafter only by choice. It’s especially bothersome with all the breast cancer goods out there — I don’t mind buying something that goes to a good cause, but does it have to be pink? Can’t they just slap a star with a pink ribbon on the box?

As for the tazer, it looks remarkably like the phasers from Star Trek: The Next Generation with the front cut off. So there’s that.