Seven Wacky Consumer Products

Underwear for your hands? Check out some seriously strange merchandise.

ByABC News
November 2, 2009, 2:45 PM

Nov. 3, 2009 — -- Is underwear for your hands on your holiday shopping list this year? How about a golf club that doubles as a weed whacker or a Snuggie for your dog?

This holiday season, even as consumers say they're pulling back on spending, experts like Tod Marks, senior editor at Consumer Reports magazine, expect that purchases of unusual products will stay strong.

"A lot of people laugh at them but a lot more consumers actually pay attention to these things," he said. "There's some either underlying curiosity or promise or implied performance that underlies these things it's putting a piece of bait on a hook and dangling it in front of some very hungry consumers."

For the most part, strange products come at relatively low price points and that too, of course, is appealing to shoppers, Marks said.

"At best, these products maybe do something useful," he said. "At worst, you're not out a lot of money and you get something to talk about."

ABCNews.com took a look at some unusual merchandise available in the last few years. Are these products more than just conversation pieces? Decide for yourself.

"Talk about sexy. You'll have to hold the ladies back after they get a glimpse of these tighty-whities."

So goes the infomercial for Handerpants, the "underpants for your hands."

The sales pitch for the $11.95 product -- which looks like fingerless gloves made in the same design of traditional men's briefs -- may be tongue-in-cheek, but the Handerpants Web site and infomercial also list specific uses for the product, including as a liner for gloves that might prevent chafing.

Handerpants manufacturer Archie McPhee & Co. said thousands of Handerpants have been sold since the product debuted in August.

An infomercial for the $14.95 product -- which has received more than 1.5 million views on YouTube.com and inspired a bit on the talk show "Ellen" -- shows several women and one man strapping the bear onto their seatbelts and centering it on their chests.

"That teddy is a real ladies man," one YouTube commentor wrote.

Need to carry your dog places but want to keep your hands free for running errands? The makers of the Pup to Go dog carriers say they've got the solution for you: a dog carrier that straps onto a person's chest and abdomen.

Pup to Go co-founder Meena Mansharamani says that using the Pup to Go carrier, which sells for $125, should not be a replacement for walking. Rather, it allows dog owners to take their dogs to places where it might be difficult to walk them, such as a crowded street fair.

But the carrier could cause some confusion, jokes the Web site DailyCandy.

A dog in the carrier could be mistaken "for a big, furry human baby," the site said.

The makers of the Big Daddy Driver actually want you to laugh at their product. It is, after all, a combination golf club and weed whacker.

"The Funniest Golf Gift Ever!" reads the top line of the product's Web site.

The inspiration for the club came after one of its creators found his golf ball buried in Bermuda grass. The situation, according to the Web site, prompted his golfing buddy -- and future co-creator -- to joke, "You'll need a weed whacker for that."

The Big Daddy Driver sells for $49.95.

Winkers doesn't actually sell pants, but the company will decorate them for you.

The company Web site explains: "We decorate pants in such a manner that they WINK as you walk. Your WINK is the crease between your buttock and the top of your leg."

The company's designs have included owl eyes, film clapperboards and lions and range in price from $159 to $579.

The Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves, took pop culture by storm last year and has sold millions. But makers of the ubiquitous fleece blanket aren't satisfied with dressing humans -- they've set their sights on their four-legged companions.

The Snuggie for Dogs is advertised as keeping dogs warm while being easier to put on than traditional dog clothing. It sells for $14.95.