The following is a true story: One day, two Consumerist staffers were chatting about the work day. One said, “I can’t believe I’m writing about the legal ramifications of butt-dialing.” The other replied, “We should probably remember this conversation for a year-end story about things we didn’t expect to ever write in 2015.” A calendar alert was made, and our future selves were duly reminded. [More]
skymall
Long Live Inflight Shopping: United Airlines Brings Back SkyMall For A Limited Time
By 12.7.15
There has been an inflatable movie screen-sized hole in our hearts ever since SkyMall announced in January that it had filed for bankruptcy protection, essentially ending 25 years of inflight shopping entertainment. But that void for all things you-never-knew-you-needed-until-you-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-flip-through-the-pages-of-the-kooky-retail-magazine will soon be full: SkyMall will once again by flying high on United Airlines. [More]
Makers Of Ultraviolet “Disinfectant” Devices Penalized $1.3M For Making False Germ-Killing Claims
By 8.20.15
A bit of advice to gadget-makers out there: If you’re going to claim that your ultraviolet light product can ” kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria in 10 seconds or less” or eradicate disease-spreading fungus and drug-resistant MRSA, then you should have the science to back these claims up. [More]
SkyMall Files For Bankruptcy Because You’re Not Buying Enough Inflatable Movie Screens
By 1.23.15
The SkyMall catalog has always been good for a chuckle when you have absolutely nothing else to read during a flight and you just can’t sleep. Some people have presumably even bought stuff through the publication, as it’s difficult to sustain a business for 25 years if the only revenue is punchlines. But apparently not enough of us are doing our inflight shopping through SkyMall, as the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [More]
SkyMall: Because Every Child Dreams Of Owning A Jumping Hot Dog
By 10.22.14
“Do your children like jumping? Do they like hot dogs?” asks SkyMall. You’re in luck! For every child that likes the physical act of propelling oneself into the air as well as tubes filled with meat, there’s a Jumping Hot Dog for sale. Dreams really do come true!(?) [More]
SkyMall Wants You To Watch The Seconds Of Your Life Tick, Tick, Ticking Away
By 9.24.14
“Is this reeeeaaaall?!” is a question that we ask each other around Consumerist HQ pretty much every day. Because if we’ve learned anything from this wide world, it’s that people are absolutely trying their best to invent things that make us feel crazy inside. For example: A watch that counts down the years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds of your life. Until you die. Not because the watch itself will kill you, but still, creepy. [More]
Slumber Soundly In Vermin-Infested Hotels With This Bed Bug Sleeping Cocoon
By 2.27.13
Most of us are about a kajillion percent sure, or we should be, that the pillow where we lay our heads each night isn’t crawling with vermin. But what if Yelp fails you, and you end up at a hotel where things might be a bit dicey? Perhaps you just don’t trust the look of that roadside flophouse or maybe you’re paranoid — in either case, SkyMall has just the thing for you. [More]
Sky Mall Kitties Song Celebrates Nonsensical Pet Products
By 2.22.10
Do you marvel at the ridiculous products in the SkyMall catalog? Musician Nina Katchadourian does, and she has written a song about them, viewed through the lens of the cats featured within its pages. The SkyMall Kitties. [More]
35 Most Ridiculous SkyMall Items
By 1.26.10
This list, compiled by BuzzFeed, features not one but two variations on the snuggie — the “poshAir” sleeping bag, which is sort of a reverse snuggie, and the “saimese slanket,” which is a snuggie for two. [More]
