28 Jan 09 iriver jumps the shark (and the hippo, rabbit and monkey too)

I usually gauge a company's success by the amount of times I slap my forehead. The higher the amount, the worse a company is doing. Yep the good ol' facepalm meter never fails. Right now, iriver is off the charts and my head is feeling it. They just announced a new lineup of plush charms that will be accompanying a Siren DP150 adorned in a rainbow assortment of Swarovski crystals.





There's a hippo, a rabbit, and a monkey plush made by a company called "Clasky". The charms are fashioned with an "I love iriver" t-shirt and a bunch of accessories (guitars, headphones, etc..). The player will have 2GB's of memory and play for 15 hours.



Okay I get it, these are being marketed towards girls. Not just any girls either, Japanese girls. They'll probably eat these things up for all I know. That doesn't make me feel any less awkward about iriver right now though. Anyway, these will be sold next month in Japan as a Limited Edition. Get this, it's going to cost 19,800 Yen, which amounts to about $220US. Alright so let me rephrase again, these are for rich Japanese girls. *facepalm*

iriver clasky

via AV Watch