Crickets are eponymous for creeping people out and providing the soothing soundtrack for countless sleep-deprived nights each summer. Turns out, they’re mere existence is more meaningful and multifold, thanks to Mattel.
The toy manufacturing company has married nature with technology by releasing Bug Racer, a cricket-controlled car — and even paired it with a wacky infomercial to boot.
The car has sensors that track the motion of the cricket, steering it left or right depending on which side the insect scurries toward. Mattel describes the landmark day as “the first vehicle that puts real crickets behind the wheel.” The news immediately makes 16-year old drivers the second-most dangerous species in the world.
One thing is clear from the get-go: The toy car is a haven for crickets to be in their familiar habitat. It’s equipped with a living area, dining area for feedings and a magnified cockpit, making it more like a JW Marriott than an insect incarceration center.
The masterminds at Mattel were even mindful to release an infomercial marketing the launch, where bug whisperer Jeffery X. Bugmann turns into a Billy Mays lookalike. Bugmann even pays homage to his middle name — and Dez Bryant — by throwing up the X before exclaiming “crickets are the ticket!”
“You’re trying to show people this really cool product, but you’re also trying to lampoon the infomercial. It’s a really fine line,” says Andrew Volpe, copywriter at Ayzenberg, who was tasked to bring Bugmann to life in the spot. (Editor’s note: [a]listdaily is the media arm of the Ayzenberg Group.)
Mattel certainly has built buzz around the improbable product and pitchman and validated its authenticity — it even made its TV debut on Fox News. The toy is an interesting concept that eliminates a controller and smart tech, and signals a change of directions for Mattel’s generally clear-cut campaigns.
“I just love the fact it’s getting all the chatter that it’s getting and it’s cool to get do so something that you would make in your spare time for fun,” says Volpe. “It’s been really exciting.”
As with most toys, insects are like batteries, and it’s not included with Bug Racer. But thanks to pet stores, you can buy crickets by the batches, or just retrieve them from your bushes.
If you’re truly blessed this holiday season, you might even have one gifted from the gardens of the Earnhardt family.
