Selling the apocalypse in a can

To paraphrase P.T. Barnum (at least Spot thinks that who it was), nobody every went broke underestimating the intelligence (he said taste) of the American public. Bill Heid, the owner of a company called Solutions From Science, is selling a can of garden seeds for the low, low price of $149. It looks to be about the size of one of those canisters you use for transactions at the bank drive-up window. According to Heid, the canister can be buried for safekeeping.

One supposes that the can is sealed so that it can be buried, not to mention discouraging buyers from seeing exactly what they got for $149.

Unsurprisingly, Heid has chosen to advertise his seeds on Glenn Beck’s show on KLTK:

Bill Heid, the owner of Solutions From Science, which produces the seed gardens, said that many people scoffed at survival gardens before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the economic meltdown that began two years ago.

Now, said Heid, whose ads have been airing on KTLK's morning Glenn Beck show, his product's appeal spans the political spectrum.

But, not apparently, the entire spectrum:

"This is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard," said state Rep. Al Juhnke, DFL-Willmar, chairman of the House Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Finance Committee. "I don't want to see my big-city cousins get duped. Somebody's trying to sell you a pet rock."

Here’s Heid’s pitch to the, um, spectrum:

On his website, Heid's pitch is a bit less mainstream. "You don't have to be an Old Testament prophet to see what's going on all around us," the site says. "A belligerent lower class demanding handouts. A rapidly diminishing middle class crippled by police state bureaucracy. An aloof, ruling elite that has introduced us to an emerging totalitarianism which seeks control over every aspect of our lives." The pitch: "If you don't have the ability to grow your own food next year, your life may be in danger."

If you go to the Strib’s webpage at the link above, you can see a short video about some of Bill Heid’s other product offerings: a Himalayan diet aid (that got him in trouble with the FTC), and a diet supplement that can enable you to jump higher (no word of FTC action on that one, at least yet).

These cans are no doubt especially attractive to the people who are worried that they won’t be taken by the Rapture and are going to have to stick around for the Tribulation.

That’s a big market, right there.

Strib photo

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