# That really dumb idea...that you are secretly afraid would sell like hotcakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2025, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954 "2025-10-14T06:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/61 "2025-10-15T17:47:34Z")
Not my idea, but it really did come to life On the late 1970s BBC comedy series _The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_ the titular Perrin (played brilliantly by Leonard Rossiter, who was one of the Russians on the space station in _2001_ and played Captain John Quin in _Barry Lyndon_) conceives the idea of a store called “Grot”, which would sell only useless items that people generally just threw out. > **[LeonardRossiter.com: Reggie Online - The Grot Empire](http://leonardrossiter.com/reginaldperrin/Grot.html)** Imagine my surprise years later to open the TV Guide and see a full-page ad for the kind of stuff people kept in their junk drawers – old broken rubber bands, paper clips, balloons, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/62 "2025-10-15T18:02:56Z")
I almost titled this thread “Pet Rox Redux” 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/63 "2025-10-15T18:52:19Z")
I’m not sure if this should go here or in the French food thread. How about a chain similar to Wing Stop with all the different sauces except with frog legs instead of chicken wings? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/64 "2025-10-15T22:20:07Z")
_“I’d buy that for a dollar!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/65 "2025-10-15T22:52:57Z")
Wasn’t that the villain’s business in _The Muppet Movie_? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/66 "2025-10-15T23:51:01Z")
Fingers? As in his or hers? Ot both? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/67 "2025-10-16T00:25:15Z")
Leggo my Eggo. Best idea since sliced bread. 🤔 I wished a million times they were outlawed. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/68 "2025-10-16T01:38:51Z")
I remember one of those; it was called Suds and Duds. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/69 "2025-10-16T05:24:29Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > You know about those _8-minute Abs_ videos? A _7-minute Abs_ video would sell like blockbusters! (As long as no one starts selling a _6-minutes Abs_ video!) There’s something about that idea… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/70 "2025-10-16T05:51:49Z")
I had an idea for when I won the lottery and had a bajillion dollars to burn. I’d start a streaming TV service, somewhat inspired by the Lifetime Network (i.e. cheap, formulaic, and prolific), called “ **Lyric** ” which would be entirely movies and TV series about music. Not just documentaries and music videos, but also dramas and comedies and kid’s shows that would be based loosely around the lyrics of popular songs. ---
**Author:** ![IMadeLem0nade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imadelem0nade/32/19241_2.png) [@IMadeLem0nade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMadeLem0nade)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/71 "2025-10-16T15:00:30Z")
Awesome ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/72 "2025-10-16T15:55:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Beer bottles that have caps with puzzles you have to solve in order to open them. If you can’t, it means you’re too drunk and need to stop drinking anyway. The one problem with this would be guys who are good (or possibly even _better_ ) at solving puzzles when drunk. When I was an undergrad we had a guy nicknamed “Chug” (for obvious reasons \* ) who could recite accurate three-place logarithms of any number you gave him. While drunk. - most people didn’t even know his real name. When a phone call came in asking for him by name no one at first knew who to give it to. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/73 "2025-10-16T15:58:20Z")
Sounds good. Except then you’ll have drunks trying to open beer bottles using the old “sword on a Champagne bottle” trick. So now we have drunks with swords or big knives and broken glass to contend with. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/74 "2025-10-16T19:43:27Z")
This reminds me of a great idea for seven blade razors. And the Abs and Pizza Diet, where you can eat pizza every meal and merely have to do three hours of daily abdominal exercise. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/75 "2025-10-16T23:01:41Z")
I hadn’t even thought of the name in many years, but in this case, it was called “Duds & Suds.” ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/76 "2025-10-16T23:53:58Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Beer bottles that have caps with puzzles So like Mickey’s but you need to solve it before you can open it? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > most people didn’t even know his real name. I had a housemate (big house) who was called “Crackers”. I knew him for a year before I found out his real name. College is a strange place. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/77 "2025-10-17T00:15:42Z")
That may have been it. I was in grad school at UT Knoxville; it would have been late eighties and/or early nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/78 "2025-10-17T00:37:38Z")
I wish someone would sell real margaritas in cans, where you could chill it and then add it to your own ice. By “real” I mean made with actual tequila and triple sec, and following the entire recipe of the standard or Cadillac version. They sell imitation margaritas in the stores here that are made with wine, so, really not the same thing. Prepared margaritas would be nice because you can enjoy them at home occasionally and not end up with an inch of triple sec that’s been sitting in the bottle for six months. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/79 "2025-10-17T00:41:37Z")
A pancake iron, by analogy with a waffle iron. My waffle iron works so well that I get perfect results every time. A pancake iron would work the same way. You pour the batter in, close the lid, and just wait until the green light comes on. By contrast, when making pancakes the traditional way, I almost always have to throw out the first one (or two) because they didn’t cook evenly. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2025, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954/80 "2025-10-17T01:01:51Z")
Which suggests that you’re not letting your pan and oil get fully and evenly heated before adding your first shot of batter. Impatience ruins many a dish. It’s my personal kryptonite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-really-dumb-idea-that-you-are-secretly-afraid-would-sell-like-hotcakes/1023954.md?page=5)