Basic Trope: A product has a major flaw, but that flaw is presented as a positive thing.
- Straight: Ninja-brand knives have thin, serrated blades that really can't be sharpened or even honed. Even if they could be sharpened, they usually dull or break before they'd get to the point of needing to be. So they are touted as "never needing to be sharpened."
- Exaggerated: The knives are completely smooth and unusable for anything but display.
- Downplayed: The knives are advertised as being made out of all-natural carbon.
- Justified:
- Hey, it is technically, if deceptively, true.
- The knives never need sharpening...because they're butter knives.
- Inverted:
- Our Product Sucks
- Ads for Ninja-brand knives make the knives' sharpness sound like a flaw:
Ninja Knives! The knife brand most likely to cause accidental injury! - Subverted: They later come out with a 'sharpener' chemical and process that involves dipping the blade in the mold overnight with a chemical and then scraping the outermost remnants off to reveal the new blade.
- Double Subverted: However it is more expensive and not as good as just buying a new Ninja knife.
- Parodied:
- Too Incompetent to Operate a Blanket
- Ninja-brand knives are advertised as "The last knives you'll ever switch to!" They come to life and slit your throat once you open the packaging.
- The knives reportedly "never get dull, because you'll never cut anything with them!"
- A baseball bat is sold as "never gets dull".
- Zig Zagged: Some ads mention this detail, others don't.
- Averted:
- Ninja-brand knives are advertised honestly.
- The knives do not require a marketing gimmick to sell.
- Instead of advertising the flaw they focus upon a legitimate if small advantage like Ninja knives never rusting (since they are ceramic).
- Enforced: "We need to make people want to buy our product!"
- Lampshaded: "You'll never need to get them sharpened as long as you own them!"
- Invoked: A focus group complains that the knives seem to dull quickly.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: The manufacturers listen to the focus group and modify the knives before trying to market them to the general public.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
Back to Never Needs Sharpening
