I saw this a few days ago while shopping at the local Big Lots. It's a kid's game called Silly Surgery, from a company called Banzai. As you can see from the box, it's pretty much a ripoff of Milton Bradley's classic Operation game, but with 75% less fun. This game's not even electric, so there's no buzzer to sound if you mess up. I guess you're on the honor system.I'm not going to go into the fact that Big Lots is selling a kid's game that consists of an inflatable bed. With a man on it. With a large gash near his groin.
What interests me is the box art and copy. Judging by the size of the inflatable bed in relation to the kids in the photo, it appears to be 4 and a half, possibly 5 feet long.
But if you look closely you'll see a blurb shouting, "HUGE! Almost 3 feet long!" I wouldn't describe an almost 3 foot long inflatable bed as "huge."
What's hilarious to me is that the cover photo makes the bed look large enough for the kids to lie on comfortably. But if it's "almost" 3 feet long, then that must be a family of Hobbit children. Seriously, look at them. Each one of those kids is shorter than a yard stick. They could almost stand in the palm of your hand.
This is not the first time this Banzai company has intentionally distorted the size of their products. They're notorious for doing this kind of thing. They seem to specialize in backyard inflatable water slides and such. Their box art always deceptively implies that the toy in question is large enough for several kids to play in at the same time, when in reality it's barely big enough for one kid to squat down in. Amazon is chock full of consumer complaints about their products, demanding refunds and lawsuits.From the info on the back of the box they appear to be a Chinese company, but "Banzai" is a Japanese word. Curious.
I do like the blurb on the back of the box though:
Insert all inflated wacky objects into the patient belly. Is there a doctor in the house? Draw a card to see which wacky object you have to remove from the patient. Remove the object pictured on the card to perform a successful surgery. Perform the most successful silly surgeries and you win! Paging Doctor Fun!
That is some pure classic marketspeak right there.
