"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote in
message ...
Awl--


To wit:
The volume of the rotozip case calc'd out to 1,824 cubic inches.
What makes that significant is that a full *cubic foot* is a mere 1,728 cu
in.
What makes this even more striking is that a 5 gal bucket of joint
compound, paint, etc. is only 1,155 cubic inches.

So a cubic foot is no small volume.

The box I wound up putting the whole of the Rotozip kit in was 250 cu in,
and could have easily fit in a better-proportioned 200 cu. in.

So lessee,
1800 divided by 200 is 9.
Thus, the inflated the volume of this product by a factor of 9.

Which is about the same factor by which the infomercial peeple inflated
its usefulness.

This inflated-volume technique is widespread in Costco, Sears, Sam'sClub,
HD, etc, where "509 piece kits" of whatever super tool is at hand, when
all dumped in a paper bag, fit into a very small paper bag indeed.
Yet the display is enormous, for artfully good reason.
And which, even for a perenially PV'd cynic and semi-experienced shop rat
as myself, are enticing and at times near-intoxicating.

Having worked a number of years at Sears, I suspect the oversize packaging
is aimed more at deterring shop lifters than enticing buyers to buy. Chase
a shop lifter running with one of these gigantic boxes and he/she will
likely drop it to run faster. Also easier to see them walking out the door
with the merchandise and easier to cable a bunch of them together to prevent
the snatch and run in the first place. Of course this still won't the stop
the dedicated shop lifter.

Tom G.