The hard sell: PedEgg

"Tired of dried callused feet tearing your pantyhose?" Well, of course you are, pleb. You haven't purchased the PedEgg™, the handheld pedicure gadget with over 100 stainless steel micro files that gently smooth and remove the toughest dried, callused skin. The PedEgg™ advert features glamorous people scraping dead skin off their feet in all kinds of glamorous situations. The unique design of the PedEgg™ means that it holds on to your "filings" (ie the rotting remains of your dead skin shavings) in a handy compartment so you can empty it wherever you like. To demonstrate this we see a model tipping seven ounces of dessicated heel scrapings into a wastepaper bin to show us how the beautiful people do it. It's aspirational in ways you can't imagine. Furthermore, the advert informs us that the whole family can use it: mums, dads, grandads - like, everyone. What more could you want? Inexplicably, not everyone is impressed the Egg that is Ped. Two of the models appearing in the US version of the commercial hit the company with a lawsuit last summer, appalled at the "cheap, low quality" of the commercial. They alleged that artificial bumps and discolouration were added to their feet during the "before" and "after" shots by a makeup artist who worked exclusively in "horror makeup". It's unfortunate that there are people who would rather grind an axe in court than file a bunion to extinction. Because when advertising historians come to write the chapter on DIY pedicures and affordable accessible beauty treatments one name will ring out: PedEgg™ - the cheese grater for your feet.

• Media
• The hard sell
• Advertising

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJulocG2vsRoaWloaWS6or6OaW5oqJWZsqiz