Dutch marketing agency and think-tank Natwerk’s newest product, called the UpperCup, which is being touted as the first iPhone cup holder, is a giant swing and miss. This isn’t the first time the Dutch have introduced a terrible product to the world. Have you ever tried to wear wooden clogs? But we say, “That’s nice,” and move on for a few hundred years until they show up again at our door with something else entirely ridiculous.
UpperCup is clearly a terrible idea because unless you only have a few sips of coffee left, the iPhone (which weighs only about a couple of ounces) will be far lighter than your venti latte or tall iced coffee. As the picture shows, the idea is to pop your phone in and place your coffee in the little cup hold that slides out. It sounds plausible in theory, but in actual practice you could imagine the actual strain on your hands by trying to hold the coffee and text at the same time.
Why not put your phone down on that mailbox, newspaper stand, tree crux or have your friend hold it for you while you reply to a text? No one should be balancing scalding hot liquid – or any liquid for that matter – so closely to their iPhones. I think of that movie The Jerk and the glasses the character invented that end up inadvertently making everyone cross eyed and the cascade of lawsuits that followed.
UpperCup obviously isn’t practical and that’s the joke – or is it?
The product doesn’t exist yet, but that isn’t stopping creators from trying to raise $25,000 on Indiegogo to make it exist. For $25 you can join in the fun and perpetuate the joke on the streets or around the office in April 2013.
