Once upon a time, Joe Pellettieri was shopping at a Bass Pro Shop with his wife when a brilliant idea for a product came to her. “How about a singing fish on a plaque?” she said. It was that moment that Big Mouth Billy Bass was born.
Joe Pellettieri works for Gemmy Industries. You may not know that name but you sure know their products. Gemmy specializes in gag gifts and novelty toys like Sunny the Singing Sunflower, Kung Fu Hamsters, and a talking Christmas tree named Douglas Fir. They create fad products that are intended to sell fast and turn a profit.
Big Mouth Billy Bass was invented in December of 1998 and was ready to hit stores by the following summer of 1999. Billy is made from a hard plastic skeleton and plaque with a small motor for movement. He is covered in a latex rubber skin to give him a more realistic look. A team of artists, engineers, salespeople, and even a taxidermist worked to make this product come to life.
When Big Mouth Billy Bass first came out he sang “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin and “Take Me to the River” by Al Green. The product was an instant hit and millions and millions of units were sold. Billy even outsold Tickle Me Elmo during the Christmas of 1999. The cost to Gemmy to produce a single Big Mouth Billy Bass was $4.50 and they were sold for $29.95. Gemmy will not disclose how much money they made from this product, but it is estimated that they made over $100 million in one year on the sales of the singing bass.
Due to the success of this product, Gemmy went on to produce Travis the Rainbow Trout, Cool Catfish, and Rocky Lobster. There were also Christmas editions of Big Mouth Billy Bass and later an anniversary edition. Each of the subsequent products had varying degrees of success but none came close to the success of the original singing bass.
My two cents: On one hand, I applaud Gemmy Industries for expertly exploiting our stupidity and mindless consumerism. Who wouldn’t love to have that sort of money? Companies that make novelty and fad products are genius in many ways. They design products that appeal to consumers for a very short amount of time before they are put away and forgotten. The product doesn’t need to last long or be of any real quality. It just has to sell. On the other hand, I am thoroughly disgusted by this type of company. The products they produce are literal garbage and that is what they are intended to be. How many Big Mouth Billy Bass do you think are still hanging on someone’s wall? I would guess that there are very few that are hanging up and still in working order. I am positive that the vast majority of Big Mouth Billy Bass has long been laid to rest and forgotten.
Rating: I give Big Mouth Billy Bass 2 out of 5 possible slow claps. It’s a moronic invention that exploits mindless American consumers.
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