Tiddy Bear: Funniest Product Name Ever?
April 28th, 2007 Paul Lucas
I never thought any product could beat Nad’s in coming up with a name that makes everyone think of a laughably inappropriate body part, but apparently we have a winner.
The product is called Tiddy Bear. Tiddy Bear is a piece of fabric that resembles a small teddy bear that people are supposed to attach to their seat belts to protect their skin from being irritated by the strap. (Is that really a big problem for a lot of people?)
I managed to miss this infomercial on TV, but fortunately some wise soul managed to put it online:
Were the creators of this product so clueless that they didn’t realize that everyone would think the name of the product was really “Titty Bear” (especially since a woman’s breast, aka titty, is an appropriate position to place it)? Or did they think it was some sort of in-joke that most people wouldn’t get—when in fact everyone gets it.
According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, “Tiddy” is actually a word, chiefly British, defined as “Tiny, Trivial.” I was born and raised in the U.S. and I have never encounterd the word “tiddy” before in my life until I looked it up in reponse to the Tiddy Bear infomercial. (The word “titty,” on the other hand I have heard on numerous occasions.) Is “tiddy” in common, current usage in the UK? This may be an unfortunate case of a non-native English speaker trying to come up with a product name using a dictionary.
At first the video looks like it’s some sort of parody, but as the commercial progress it looks more like it’s the real thing. The website mentioned on the ad www.tiddybear.tv is down at the moment, but I called the 800 number on the ad and it’s for real!
um…wow?
Comment by joe — June 4th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Yeah, wow. I saw the ad on late night TV, and I was astonished they’d gotten by the censors. I called a friend and offered to buy three of these so that she and I could take her 4-yr. old daughter on a road trip, both of us singing the praises of this invention to the innocent child, just to watch her take her “tiddy bear” into restaurants and loudly tell the waitresses (and anybody else within earshot) that this was her “Tiddy Bear” and she loved it!
Comment by Ellen — November 7th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
HSAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Comment by TITTY BEAR — May 7th, 2008 at 1:35 am
The word “tiddly” means “tiny, trivial” in original English. The word “tiddy” means nothing.
Comment by Matty G — July 31st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
that is the most stupidest name for a seat belt cover….
Comment by Sandie — August 12th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I personally feel whomever came up with the name, design and/or idea should receive a GOLD medal. You have hit a gold mine with both the product and the name…CONGRATS!
Comment by Nancy — August 12th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
That’s actually rather clever. I know I have a problem with the strap irritating my skin, so yes, I’d say that if you’re a female with average size breasts and sensitive skin, it’s a wonderful product. Most women’s shirts tend to have at least some skin showing, so unless you’re traveling in a turtleneck….
Comment by Bethany — October 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 pm
What’s so bad about this? Just put a camera in the bear’s eyes. Anyone else see where its looking in half of the commercial?
Comment by Fred — December 27th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
This is the stupidest product ever.
Comment by LOL — December 28th, 2008 at 1:44 am
There are lots of seat belt comforters. I have a thin skin cancer type pigmentation and my skin is easily irritated by the shoulder strap of the seat belt uless I am wearing a coat. Anyone can find a seat belt comforter at an auto supply store without buying this silly little product.
Also, maybe the woman in the advertisement should put on some clothes.
Comment by Anoldlady — January 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
There was a funnier product name, back in the early ’90s.
The device was a long, narrow rectangle of window screen (or sieve), with a wooden handle at each end. You’d hold the handles and drag the thing through your cat’s litter box. The screen would catch the clumps, and the dry loose litter would sift through it.
And this wonderful product was called…
CATCH-IT.
Say that name fast, and it sounds just like what it was designed to pick up.
If only I’d videotaped the commercial during the short time before it stopped airing!
Comment by Gutbucket Lardner — January 18th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Gutbucket, I found the Catch-it on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYm1qIRnqQk
Glorious.
Comment by Phoenix — February 5th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
yea nice Work :D
Comment by Linn Teachout — April 27th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Yes, actually, a lot of people have problems with the seatbelt irritating their skin.
I’m 5′2″ and have fairly short legs, so I have to scoot the seat almost all the way forward. I’m inside the “average” height of a woman, but a car without adjustable seatbelts is going to have to cover from about 4′9″ to 6′5″, and they simply can’t do that comfortably.
I gained some weight and my breasts got noticably bigger, and I had to get an extender because the seatbelt was sitting practically horizontally across my windpipe. I have pictures; if I’d gotten in an accident I would have at least been killed, if not also decapitated.
Granted, I drive a 4-Runner, which was marketed at tall, slender, young men, but still.
Look at how many seat belt protectors and adjusters there are on the market.
Comment by Diana — September 16th, 2009 at 5:21 pm