Be an angel, dear, and fix my bra.

December 15, 2008 By Peter

Scott Dutton’s wife complained that the semi-circular struts would slip out from under the cups of her bra.

Instead of mumbling, “Oh, really?” and continuing to focus on whatever guy-thing he was doing at the time, Scott came up with a permanent fix for his wife and scored a gold medal for Invention of the Year at the British Invention Show.

The Bra Angel bra repair kit was also selected from more than 200 other inventions to be included in the GMTV show and the BBC’s The One Show.

So much for the applause. If Scott wants to make a success of his invention, he’ll have to support his creative brilliance with cool, marketing smarts.

From all the descriptions I could find, the world’s first underwire bra repair kit seems to work like this: You remove the offending underwire, slip on a cap that is barbed like a fishhook, and slip the capped wire back into its channel. It can’t slip out now, because the barbs hold it in place.

I wonder if Barry Dutton is a fisherman, because his invention reminds me of something that popped up a few years ago called the Wunder Boner. Look carefully at its commercial and you’ll see that both inventions involve pushing a hooked device through an opening.

The Duttons of Barry, South Wales, will be able to sell their Bra Angel repair kit for only a limited time. If it catches on, smart bra-makers will incorporate a version of it into all their bras, or at least into their “no-slip underwire” versions.

So to make the most of their brief window of opportunity, the Duttons need an unforgettable TV commercial. The Wunder Boner spot has all the necessary elements of marketing success:

1. a slice of life

2. a clear product demonstration

3. just the right amount of adolescent humor

There’s gold in life’s little annoyances, when you get up and do something about them. But you have to stick with it. Invention is only the first half of the deal. Luckily we have benchmark work like the Wunder Boner to point us in the right direction.

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Or he could just Patent it....What does this say about the future of British inventions?if you're already a member.fields are required.