We happened to be visiting “The Shack” today looking for a sort of novelty Xmas present and next door was a hearing aid store. Quickly an idea came to me – why not novelty hearing aids?
On the one end of the spectrum you could have the “hearing voices” model which records random bits of conversation and then when there’s silence later it will play back those conversations in hushed tones. You’ll start to think you’re hearing people who aren’t there.
Related to that would be that “affirmational” model which would periodically fill the quite spots with affirmations such as “you’re super!” an “you deserve another piece of cake.”
Then there would be the “transformational” models such as the auto-tune model which would make even the worst night listening to friends do karaoke tolerable.
What about the “affiliate” models? Big Red Sox fan? The hearing aid has a big logo and when the game is on, it acts like a radio. Periodically it could play greatest team moments as well. How about the voice of Ted Williams to make a guy want to wear a hearing aid?
So, there could be a market for intentionally purchased novelty hearing aids as well as the surprise gag gift. Either way, with a little bit of fun and entertainment, even people with perfectly good hearing will want to wear them.