DSM Thermoplastic Elastomers Inc. deserves some attention for an off-beat approach to Web marketing for its Sarlink thermoplastic vulcanizates. The company has set up a pseudo-blog authored by would-be scientific genius Phil Gains, who posts faux-home videos about Sarlink, sprinkled with humor about his garage lab and living with his mom. One video shows him testing the elasticity of the TPV, with results that are both amazing and amusing. (His test strip springs back to the original shape, but his dad's car does not...) Here's a taste of the humor, from the site's "About me" page:
As I said, I've always been fascinated by science. I'm sure some day one of my inventions will be called pioneering research and then I can get any job and house I want (and mom will be happy after all). And maybe the lady next door will come over some time. I don't mean (although she's welcome as well) the kind 84-year old lady, Diane, who gives me soda whenever I pass her house during my route, but the one who's around my age and just got divorced. Maybe I'll show her some of my inventions, or the footage at least. I'm positive she'll enjoy it! Last week she asked me what I was working on in the garage. I told her exactly what I was up to. ‘Interesting', she said and smiled at me and turned around. I stepped back on my bike to finish my route.It is nice to see a company trying something new in marketing on the Web -- not just trying to recreate electronic versions of the data sheets that it has been publishing for decades. Take a look and let me know if you agree.