ABC News recently reported on a new aroma therapy product called Mandles. (Okay, I confess... they didn't call it 'aroma therapy' but they did say women have plenty of options when selecting candles to burn while taking a nice, relaxing bath....) Now, apparently MEN have some masculine options when the urge comes to, uh... light up a candle and relax in the bath?
Well, whatever their use, apparently new options now exist for those of us with 'outdoor plumbing.' Try as you may, you won't get me to admit to hunkering down in the tub and lighting up the relaxing scent Wet Dog to finish off a stressful day. But according to ABC News reports, smells like Hardware Store, Wet Dog, and Musty Locker Room are now available through a company called Manly Man Candles.
Being the highly paid investigative reporter that I am, I felt it my duty to research this further. After all, you can't believe everything you see on the news, can you? How much of what was reported was a fantastic exaggeration, and how much of it credible news story? Well... read on, my friend, read on.
My first investigative thoughts were to go to the Small Business Association to validate the company (I figured this company couldn't be huge... not yet anyway). But then I realized I don't think there is any such organization officially called the Small Business Association... so that was a foiled, imperfect thought. A trip to the library yielded nothing but sore thumbs while opening and shutting card catalogue drawers for an hour. Okay... I admit. I didn't do any of those things. I googled them, and Google bragged that the results were returned in 0.17 seconds. (So much for billing by the hour for my investigative research.)
To my dismay, Manly Man Candle Company - at least on their very own web site (which one would assume is an authoritative source)- did not offer ANY of the 3 scents mentioned in the news story. No Wet Dog, no Hardware Store or Musty Locker Room. And further disappointing to me, here are some of the scents they do offer for purchase on their site: Irish Springtime, Cedar Forest, Alpine, and Pina Colada. Shocking, ground-breaking, manly scents? This, to me, was like walking into a gag gifts and novelty store and finding things like fully functional toilet paper, light bulbs that work, good tasting chewing gum.
That's not to say that they didn't have some of what makes up their creative, unique promise, to those of us looking for a shining light in the dingy world of creative gifts. They do offer a scent called Yardwork, which purportedly smells like fresh cut grass. But it seems like rather than creating suspect or questionable odors (that's what we're really looking for here, is it not?) that what they've done is attach a few creative names to otherwise pleasant smells. Grandma's Cooking (hmmm. smells like fresh baked apple pie), Clean Laundry (smells like fresh cleaned laundry), Coffee Shop, their most popular candle to date - smells like coffee. Lots of people like the smell of coffee.
If and when they do ever offer Wet Dog, Hardware Store, and Musty Locker Room I think they may be on to something. Otherwise, they're simply another candle store looking to peddle the common scents.
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Gag gifts can be a lot of fun for both giver and receiver. They are an excellent idea for making a home or office festive party that much funnier. Laughter that they generate is always a great return gift without you asking for it. But remember that gag gifts are more for fun and the receiver should be light-hearted enough in realizing their playful tone.
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