Flowbee
The Flowbee is an electrically powered vacuum cleaner attachment made for cutting hair. It was invented in 1988 by Rick Hunt, a San Diego carpenter. Hunt initially sold the Flowbees out of his garage before finding success with live demonstrations at a county fair. The product was advertised as being capable of performing "hundreds of precision layered haircuts" in frequently aired late-night television infomercials.[1][2] By 2000, two million Flowbees had been sold.[1]
Reference to the Flowbee has been made in numerous films and television shows. It was featured on The Fourth Hour, hosted by Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere on GBTV, during the Infomercial Friday segment which aired on June 22, 2012. The Flowbee was given poor reviews by both hosts after the product was tested despite initial optimism by Burguiere. Gray quipped that "the problem seems to be that [the Flowbee] doesn't actually cut hair."
The Flowbee can also be used to groom dogs with long hair such as Maltese or Bichon Frisé with a special pet grooming attachment which is sold separately.[1] The Flowbee is still being manufactured and sold via their factory direct website and various outlets across the Internet.
The Flowbee factory is located in Flour Bluff, a suburb of Corpus Christi, Texas.
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Cave, Damien (January 6, 2000). "A hair-raising scheme". Salon. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012.
- ^ Pond, Mimi (1998). Splitting Hairs: The Bald Truth about Bad Hair Days. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 130. ISBN 0-684-82643-7.
