Ever wanted to try out a product you saw on TV?
I have, and I did. One Monday night, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought my very own PouchCouch, which resembles an oversized trash bag with lips.
The PouchCouch commercial advertises that the PouchCouch “fills with air in seconds” for “instant relaxation anytime, anywhere.” But how well do these claims hold up in real life?
Inflating
I opened my PouchCouch, which comes in its own appropriately-named pouch, and immediately was confused about how to inflate it. Eventually, I turned to YouTube, where I found an official tutorial from PouchCouch.
The PouchCouch has two chambers, which are supposed to be filled by moving the openings of the chambers through the air until they are fully or partially inflated. After inflating each chamber, the demonstration said to roll up the ends of the PouchCouch, clip them together, and the PouchCouch would be ready for relaxation.
I had a much harder time and looked much more ridiculous inflating the PouchCouch than the demonstration made it seem. In order to fill each chamber, I had to run back and forth across the room several times. Rolling up the ends by myself was a struggle and so was clipping the ends together, but I got better at it each time.
From start to finish, it took me about two minutes to inflate the PouchCouch and one minute to roll up the ends and clip them together. The “fills with air in seconds” claim was exaggerated.
Relaxing
It’s hard to maneuver around in, but once I settled in, I liked sitting in the PouchCouch. The fabric wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was sturdy. The bottom of the PouchCouch is rounded, so I was able to rock back and forth as easily as a rocker on a South Carolina porch, which I found relaxing. I was able to get out of the PouchCouch easily.
Reactions from my friends were mixed. We set up the PouchCouch in The Current’s office, and almost all of the staff tried it out. Most of them had a difficult time getting out of the PouchCouch but half liked sitting in it and half didn’t.
Also, the PouchCouch deflates very easily, which is a major downside. The advertisements claimed that the PouchCouch can support up to 500 pounds, but whenever more than two people tried to sit in it, the product began to deflate.
So, the “instant relaxation anytime, anywhere” is mostly true. The PouchCouch didn’t agree with everyone, but I liked chilling in it, although I can’t think of many contexts in which I would use my PouchCouch.
Tearing down
The first few times I put my PouchCouch away, it was difficult to get in the bag. After watching the demonstration videos again, I realized that I had been packing it up the wrong way. However, even when putting my PouchCouch away incorrectly, it still took less time to fit into the pouch than it did to set up.
The PouchCouch is fun, and the product fulfilled about half of the claims in the commercial. It wasn’t worth the $40 I spent on it, and I don’t see myself using it often, but the laughs I’ve enjoyed watching people try to gracefully exit the PouchCouch are priceless.
Caption: Relaxing on the PouchCouch during Hurricane Matthew.
Credit: G. Ducanis
