Bosch has introduced some new characters in the style of Mr. Men and Little Miss children’s book characters, and I’m loving it.
Mr. Men and Little Miss characters were created by Roger Hargreaves and then later his son Adam for a long series of children’s books and a TV show.
Bosch’s character naming is a bit off, as original Mr. Men and Little Miss characters have one-word names, but their effort is still cute.
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Above is Mr. Same Tool for Every Job, featuring the Bosch “Freak” impact tool. Although it would be crude, maybe they could have called the character Mr. Freak, after the tool. Mr. Impact might have worked too.
Mr. Brings the Dog to Work.
I would have just went with Mr. BullDog.
Mr. Forgot to Charge the Battery. How about Mr. Drained?
Little Miss My Tools Have to Match. Hmm. Little Miss Monochromatic?
Little Miss Measure Twice, Cut Once.
Little Miss Precision?
Mr. Starts a New Project Before Finishing the First One.
Ah, Mr. Incomplete!
I feel that Bosch Tools was so close with this one.
skfarmer
cute? maybe so but how does this help them in any way?
am i inclined to buy their tools with ridiculous names because they have a cutesy children’s book.? my kids are grown so i guess it doesn’t apply to me.
think about this. is it even responsible to use pictures of real tools being used by cartoonish characters in a children’s book? most of those tools should not be handled by children of the age those books are aimed at.
it looks to me like another utter and complete bosch failure to understand the business they are in.
Richard
It’s basically a popular meme aimed at adults. However this kinda feels like a marketing intern made this for people who are too ONLINE and maybe not people on job sites.
> it looks to me like another utter and complete bosch failure to understand the business they are in.
Their inability to release tools they announced years ago would tend to agree.
Rx9
“people who are too ONLINE”
You hit the proverbial nail on the head with that one, Richard.
Exactly.
Jorn
We’re here talking about it.
Stuart
Bosch hasn’t been doing anything else that’s interesting enough to post or talk about.
Rog
This is hugely on trend (albeit a fading one). But the trend does not stick to the single word titles like the original which is part of the “humor” in them.
Stuart
Yeah, that’s what my wife said, but still seems weird to me.
If you’re going to rip off or satire cartoon characters, do it right. Now get off my lawn!
Mike McFalls
Haha!
Ball_bearing
A subtle “That’s what she said” Joke?
No disrespect meant, it was just unexpected.
Stuart
No?
Me: This is weird, they didn’t even name the characters right.
My Wife: That’s part of the trend. It’s supposed to be descriptive.
Me: Yeah, but it still seems weird.
Not *getting* it seems like a “get off my lawn!” level of grumpiness.
Basically, I know descriptive names vs. traditional one-word Mr. Men and Little Miss names is built into the trend, but I still feels it’s weird and in need of correction.
Ball_bearing
The names are indeed weird.
Mason M
You should have seen some of the ones Ideal put on their Facebook stories. They were absolute bangers. My favorites were:
Mr. “My lineman pliers are my hammer”
and
Little Miss “Uses electrical tape as a bandage”.
Stuart
=( I cannot find them, I guess they expired?
Davethetool
Something nefarious is going on with this IMO. No rational reason to advertise power tools to kids unless there is an ulterior motive. I don’t like it one iota.
MM
I’d be very surprised if they were actually marketing tools to kids, that fails to make sense on so many levels. Economics, safety…
My guess is that this is meant to advertise tools to adults via nostalgia.
Stuart
I have nostalgia for the characters, which is why I found it cute, but it seems they’re marketing towards Gen-Z and younger Millennials.
Stuart
It’s a TikTok/Instagram meme trend, usually with negative self-deprecating descriptors, such as “Little Miss Borderline Personality Disorder,” “Mr. Receding Hairline,” and “Little Miss Stoned at the Nail Salon.”
I thought I’d focus on giving Bosch’s cartoons proper Mr. and Little Miss names, otherwise what’s there left to say?
I’ve never seen a Profactor tool in person, and their marketing newsletters all seem to be about their “Freak” impact driver/wrench – except for their recent botched giveaway.
Ct451
There are plenty of “power tools for toddlers” toys for most tool brands. Search in Amazon and you’ll see. What’s the motive behind those?
Stuart
Role playing is an extremely beneficial form of play for kids.
Ct451
I’m with you. It was a rhetorical question about “ulterior motive” comment above.
Frank D
I’d rather Bosch bring more tools to NA ( looks at the 12v & 18v range of tools in EU ) … than doing something cutesy that completely misses their audience … I know marketing has to do something with their time.
Rx9
I remember watching an ad for Trane HVAC systems that struck me as completely out of touch from its product. It was as if the ad agency was hoping to make a Nike commercial and got stuck with a “boring” HVAC company to use their “brilliant” idea on instead.
This feels like kind of the same thing, where people not at all in touch with the product are doing what they want and pushing it as out of the box thinking. The problem is its not out of the box at all – just in a different one, and the wrong one at that.
To me, the problem comes from the fact that the ad industry, like the entertainment industry, has increasingly become a monoculture, selecting for a certain type of person, with a certain ideology and mindset. The people who get these jobs are most certainly familiar with Apple laptops and Lululemon yoga mats, but have likely never touched a miter saw or rotary hammer in their lives, because “that’s icky stuff you pay people who didn’t go to college to do for you.”
Thom
Not as bad as the monsters ad campaign Bosch had previously
Fyrfytr998
Where’s Mr. Bosch Never Wins A Tool Face Off?
OldDominionDIYer
Can’t imagine why a tool company would spend time and effort on this? This is a sure sign Bosch is headed in the wrong direction (and have been for several years now) A once great and capable company that has lost it’s way, sad really.
Drew M
I see Bosch Marketing accepted my challenge to get EVEN WORSE.
Bob Adkins
It appears the Bosch executives A, have too much time on their hands, or B, are being sneaky, trying to make us comfortable with cartoon characters in order to tell us how to think. Believe me, there’s a motive somewhere that we would not like, so they are attempting to make it appear benign by using silly cartoons.
Do something useful Bosch, like lead the way with universal batteries before it’s forced on us.