Meet Jumpsnap, The Ropeless Jump Rope, The Dumbest Infomercial Product Ever
This is the Jump Snap. It's a ropeless jumprope. Because having to jump over an actual rope is too hard. Sometimes a rope might hit stuff. Plus they require coordination. This requires no coordination, or even the ability to jump, as the infomercial tells us. You can just bend your knees. Plus it counts your calories and makes a realistic rope-whipping noise when you swing it! Wooee! Retails for $40 on Amazon, the most expensive jump rope you would ever buy, and it doesn't even have rope.
JumpSnap [Official Site]
Post a comment
Comments:
no wonder we're all getting fat..
How frickin lazy is our culture getting when people can't be arsed to make the effort to jump rope? If you don't have the physical co-ordination to do it, find a different activity that you can handle.
As long as I am physically capable, I'll take a real rope any day.
I was tempted to make a "what does this product say about us?" comment, but really, that only counts if it catches on and becomes successful. I have a hunch whoever invested in this company will be sorry.
Fatties love to find ways to claim they exercise without having to put in too much effort. Then they can claim they can't lose weight because of genetics, or hormones or something and go back to eating bon-bons. Jump Snap is perfect for them.
Jesse White is not impressed.
You don't...jump? Isn't that the...point of a JUMP rope?
What's next, the hoopless hula hoop?
Yes yes, the world is ending, etc. I think this is a great product that's being sold to far to wide of an audience. If you're someone who can't use a "traditional" jump rope due to Coordination issues, space constraints, or the actual inability to jump consistently and repetitively, why not? It's a lot less discouraging than trying and failing with an actual jump rope. Will I ever use the product? no. Am I so shortsighted that I think it's without use? also no.
Ironically, if it was for the Wii, this would be a major success.
Well, we can't really call it a "jump rope" since there's no rope. I guess it's a "jump".
But, wait. There's no jumping either, so I guess we'll have to just call it a "".
the first thing i thought was another wii game....but yeah, now it's that we're lazy about working out and getting fat, but WE"RE LOSING OUR COORDINATION TOO!
America is FAT and out of coordination.
I guess that if you're really serious about working out or wanting to start, this jumpropeless device is fine cause you'll quickly find a rythm and hopefully you'll be jumping, not just sitting in a lazy boy with your arms laid out over the arm rest and turning your wrists....look ma' I am working out!
What's next? A Chairmaster? "I sit down, I get up, I sit down, I get up."
-Denis Leary, "No Cure For Cancer"
I would actually love a jump rope that doesn't require rope...cause there's no way I'm ever going to be able to jump rope in my living room, not without knocking over lamps and possibly endangering some lives.
I wish I could have thought of this. A simple calorie computer in one handle, some rope and a weight, marked up by a thousand percent if not more. The profit is outstanding. The product also has great appeal to people (everyone's seen if not done the action before), especially those people who are apt to watch such marketing and actually believe that this devices delivers the claims the video shows.
As someone who's made a student film, it was interesting watching the actors in the infomercial interact with the product, or do their scenes period (the girl on the treadmill looking miserable, that's a great one). I could just imagine them laughing at the thing between cuts. Then again, they got paid, they're happy! It was disgusting to see the company use and abuse cuts and misrepresent people and facts to give the impression that their product somehow will solve all your fat problems, then again that's the nature of their business, and I don't fault them for playing the game.
I saw the commercial for this and wondered at the time how on earth it counts calories. You can apparently make it count by just swinging it around whether you're sitting in a recliner or jumping a foot off the ground with each swing. There's no way it could be remotely accurate.
and makes a realistic rope-whipping noise when you swing it!
That is almost as ridiculous as the cash registers at Wawa. When you open the till drawer, the register makes a noise like a till opening. Except it's just a little different than the noise the till drawer already makes in real life.
soo.....all you have to do is jump? Do you even need to buy anything for that? Clearly....no.
@nakedscience: I think there's a bit of humor involved. But bigotry? Come on... why does american culture have to be so pc?
Hey Fatso - here's a brilliant idea: try the "Eat Less, Move Around More" diet. By paying attention to the calories you consume, not eating out nearly as much and by getting off the damn couch three times a week and walking around the neighborhood, the pounds will just melt away!
Gimmicks like this make me realize that I'm in the wrong business. I really need to get into marketing.
@prag: Really? Do all overweight people love that? Do they also love being stereotyped? I'm sure many fat people are also lazy or excuse-makers, but it's lazy to assume that's a 1:1 correlation.
For those who decry this as a 'we're lazier than ever', I would point out that this is NOT the worst I've seen. There used to be machines that would shake you, that people thought would help them lose weight. And I'm pretty sure that the tapeworm pills were a worse idea.
To be honest, if the jumpsnap was 20 bucks or less, I'd consider it. I can't (or rather, shouldn't) jump very high. I shouldn't use a jump rope in the house (between the breakables and the cats...). And jumping on concrete isn't very good. Remember that the point of the jump rope is not to jump the rope, per se, as to take your mind off the fact that all you're doing is jumping up and down. (Exception: Competitive/artistic jump ropers) Something that gives you a feel of jump rope, with something to count, might help. (Most people don't jump rope without counting, and feeling proud if they hit a new number.)
But for $40? Ah, no.
@prag: My biggest problem with exercising is the society we have evolved into. If I had to go walking w/o my iPod, I would go nuts. More than a few times I had my headphones fritz out, and it ruined my walk b/c I couldn't hear my music correctly. If I could honestly use my computer/watch TV while exercising, I would probably exercise more than I do.
Why is "Sometimes a rope might hit stuff." thrown in with all that other crap? I can't speak for anyone else, but I've noticed that when I jump rope I need about 9-10 feet ceilings. Which means go outside. Unfortunately, its still snowing in April where I live. So there goes that idea.
Now, I wouldn't ever purchase this thing (actually, for $10 I probably would), but just because lazy people can swing their arms around doesn't mean the product sucks. That's like saying we shouldn't buy treadmills because some people just stand on the side while its running.
A jump rope with no rope and you don't need to jump.
I'll be selling yachts for $3.99 apiece starting next week. You don't even need to know how to sail! And I've made it "boatless" too! It even makes realistic splashing noises!
BTW, anyone swimming next week will owe me for copyright infringement.
@nakedscience: Please, the obese are largely (no pun intended) fat by choice. It only became un-PC to heap scorn on them once a very large percentage of the population were themselves obese. Now to ridicule gluttony is somehow bigoted. Gluttony has been recognized as a sin (not necessarily in the religious sense) for thousands of years. Get over it. Fat is bad.
Some people are always looking for an easier means to work out. Working out is hard...that's where the "work" comes from. As a matter of fact, the harder it is, the better it is for you. I am not sure why so many people are looking for the miracle "ab rocket" or "electro abs" or whatever. You are just throwing money away. Lay down, and start doing some situps. Do pushups. Do lunges. Yes, it hurts, and yes, it sucks, but if you want real results, this is the only way.
@pecan 3.14159265: I just found an old jump rope and tried to jump in the living room of my apartment. Three jumps in I got caught on something... turns out my cat doesn't appreciate me jumping rope in the house.
@prag: You're making a valid point - fat is bad - but do you really need to denigrate a part of the population that already likely feels pretty bad about their appearance and health? This isn't about being PC, it's about not being a dickhead to fellow human beings. And while it's not really bigotry IMO, it is unnecessary meanness just for sake of being "funny".
And how many folks that decry this product waited in line for a Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Sports...etc?
@raptorrapture: You'll excuse me for a few minutes, won't you? I have to go call Nintendo, profit incoming.
@Tightlines: If it helps motivate someone to be more fit/lose weight, what's the harm? How is this product's existence so painful to everyone? Did someone sodomize your mothers with one of these things and I missed the memo?
@U-235: I wish the House o' SteveDave had the disposable income/space to allow for a treadmill. For now I hoof it the 5 miles around my block.
@prag: And some of us are obese because our thyroids are bad and can eat so healthy it would make most people sick to think about it, and still not lose weight. Nice to stereo-type.
I haven't been in a fast food place in I don't know how long. I have worked hard at eliminating processed food from my diet and cook dinner every night. I hike, walk and bike ride (although I admit I have problems with this in the cooler months in New England). My 'TV Dinners' are frozen bulk cooked meals with low sodium and fat content (I'm currently eating homemade chicken soup with rice for lunch which was frozen when I made my winter batch back in January).
My doctor has basically told me I don't need to do a thing to my diet. That I should just watch my diet and exercise as I have been for years. Unfortunately, the use of BMI by our health industry has me listed as 'obese' when I'm proportionally not really all that large (i.e. I have a waist)
Yes, I'm overweight at 5'0" and 155 lbs, but I haven't been able to lose in a long, long time. I suppose I could stop eating all together. That might work...
@catskyfire: I'm pretty sure they still have those machines in some places. They also have ones with rollers on them that you lay on and are somehow supposed to reduce your weight.
@LadySiren (same name on Twitter): but do you really need to denigrate a part of the population that already likely feels pretty bad about their appearance and health?
Please google "fat acceptance" and get back to us.
@tc4b: Yeah, and skinny people can also be lazy and excuse-makers and very unhealthy. Skinny =/= healthy.
Words fail :(