A year and a half ago we made fun of a product called The Game Handler, a completely useless one-handed control made by IMS Controls and for use with your Nintendo Entertainment System. While the idea was intriguing (especially when it came to playing level grinding role-playing games), the advertisement was hampered by a horrible photographer. Due to lighting problems nobody actually knew what The Game Handler looked like, which may be one nobody actually went to buy the product. Now we're back with another one-handed control, the "revolutionary one-handed controller -- the ASCII Grip." Unfortunately it looks like ASCII decided to hire the same people responsible for The Game Handler, because here is another example of a one-handed controller that is almost impossible to make out in the advertisement.

Perhaps these companies just don't want people to see what their control looks like, because this is two one-handed controllers in a row that are obscured by something. In this case we see a man (at least, I think that's a man) who is holding the control (or something that kind of looks like a control) up to the camera. The problem is that it's too dark to really make out what it looks like, and the effect they use gives off the impression that he's shaking it. And here's an extra warning for you: if you look at the advertisement for too long you'll start to get a headache. Beware, this advertisement may be hazardous to your health.

I'm also a little troubled by the product's terrible slogan, "Imagine the Possibilities." Obviously they want you to think about all the things you can do by only using one hand to play your favorite games. But is that really a thought you want stuck in your mind? Think about this for a moment, what's the first thing you think about when you hear that your friend is typing one-handed? Chances are it's not that he's freeing up the other hand to do the dishes or work on his homework. What could your buddy possibly do with a one-handed control? Perhaps a better question is, are you really going to want to pick up that control after your buddy has been using it? It sounds like you need better friends.

FROM: Tim Gunn's Guide to Bad Advertising