The Magic Bullet is a compact blender sold by Homeland Housewares, a division of the American company Alchemy Worldwide, and sold in over 50 countries.[1] It is widely marketed through television advertisements and infomercials and sold in retail stores under the "As seen on TV" banner. A feature-limited retail version not under this banner called the "Magic Bullet Single Shot+" is also available.
Since the introduction of the Magic Bullet, other incarnations include the Magic Bullet To Go, the Magic Bullet Mini, the Bullet Express, the Baby Bullet, the NutriBullet, the Party Bullet and the Dessert Bullet.
Product
The Magic Bullet is a personal blender that is designed to be used as a space saving replacement for other appliances such as a blender, food processor, and electric juicer.[2] The name is derived from the ogive-shaped curve of the blending cups.[citation needed] The blender cup is dishwasher safe, and its cylindrical shape makes hand-washing easy.[3] The entire Magic Bullet system consists of an electric blender base with a number of attachments. Attachments included with the product include:
one of two available screw-on blade attachments; the "cross blade" (used for chopping foods and crushing ice),
two mixing cups, one short and one tall,
two handled cups, called by the manufacturer "Party Mugs", which can be used to blend individual drinks (also with colored "Comfort Rings" that screw over the threads),
lids for the cups, intended for storing foods, and
an instruction manual which also contains a recipe book (Magic Bullet 10 Second Recipes and Owner Manual), featuring recipes prepared in the infomercial and others.
Other add-ons can be purchased separately:
perforated lids for the cups that are used to ventilate items cooked in the cup when using a microwave oven, and to dispense hard foods that have been ground using the appliance,
the other of two available screw-on blade attachments: a "flat blade" (used for chopping harder foods, as well as for whipping),
other attachments include a full size blender pitcher and a manual juice extractor attachment.
Lawsuit and explosion allegations
In May 2018, Fox affiliate KTTV in Los Angeles obtained test videos from NutriBullet which appeared to show the machine exploding in different situations, and some consumers told FOX11 they were injured by using the blender. Fourteen people have sued the company saying they were cut or burned when their NutriBullet exploded. The company has denied responsibility for the consumers’ injuries.[4]
Usage
The appliance is used by attaching a blade attachment to the desired cup and fitting the assembly upside down on top of the base. The base contains the motor that turns the blade, which is inside the cup. When one applies pressure to the top of the unit, the blade spins. If one turns the cup to lock into the base, it will continue to spin until it is disengaged.[5]
Infomercial
The Magic Bullet is known for its 30-minute infomercial, broadcast mostly in the early hours of the morning.[6][7][8]
History
The design for the Magic Bullet and its attachments is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to Lenny Sands, CEO and founding partner of Alchemy Worldwide.[1]Its origins lie with Philips and Douwe Egberts. They designed in the 1960s an electrical coffee grinder. It was essentially the same as the present Magic Bullet, but only with the small dome and the cross blade, firmly attached to the housing; included was a small brush. The collaboration between the two Dutch companies later resulted in the development of the Senseo.[citation needed]
In 2015, Magic Bullet introduced an app that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes to Magic Bullet users.[9]
In October 2017, the Bluetooth-enabled NutriBullet Balance was released.[10] The blender works with a companion app which allows users to track calories from ingredients processed using the machine.[11]
Patent infringement
The Magic Bullet has been replicated and imitated on more than one occasion.[12] Homeland Housewares, LLC, is a member of eBay’s Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program[13] and has created a Consumer Counterfeit Watch web page in order to help educate consumers regarding these issues.
