My TiVo gets me, it really, really gets me
Most of the swag companies proffer to entice reporters to write about them is predictable and boring--pens, book bags, shirts, etc. You know, things I can buy myself, thank you. But it's not every day I receive swag that's so utterly ridiculous I feel the need to blog about it. (So, good job, Hazmat Media, whoever you are.)
Look, my TiVo swag gets me.
(Credit: CNET Networks/James Martin)Inside a nondescript padded envelope delivered to my desk yesterday was a two-page, single-spaced missive titled, "My TiVo Gets Me." Best of all, it was accompanied by a black, felt headband sporting TiVo antenna ears.
According to the note, "The vast majority of technology lacks essential human warmth and character." But TiVo is different, says the company, because it was created "with a playful, endearingly human personality." And here, "human personality" means the TiVo man icon.
Apparently, many people are enamored of said TiVo guy, to the point where parents have dressed their kids in its likeness for Halloween, and a San Francisco Bay Area couple is having a TiVo-themed wedding complete with cake baked in the shape of the TiVo character, according to the note.
Um, OK. But it seems there's actually a rhyme and reason for the delivery of my funky new accessory: this week, TiVo is launching a new ad campaign called "My TiVo Gets Me." You may have already seen an ad or two.
While it's unclear if this campaign will get more people to buy TiVos, I do know that I'm now better accessorized.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
