MINNEAPOLIS, MN—The race for complicated car seat installation just got very heated after Graco surged ahead with their latest model of front-facing car seats for children between 20 and 45 pounds. Hailed by critics as "the most difficult-to-install car seat on the market," Graco has surpassed a milestone of which its competitors have only dreamed.
What makes the car seat so difficult to install correctly are the precise specifications for safe angles at which each part may lie, as well as the multiple straps and anchors that must each be correctly threaded through holes that are virtually impossible to find, reach with adult-sized hands, or adjust once they've been threaded. Indeed, in laboratory tests of the car seat, it took at least 3 people working concertedly for a full 25 minutes before they were able to install the seat to the satisfaction of the manufacturer's recommendations.
Consumers agree that installing the new model is "frustrating beyond belief," and "brought me to tears at least three times." Such testimonials are quickly spreading by word of mouth, leading to an increased demand for the car seat. One customer who was about to purchase the car seat commented, "This is ultimately about parental suffering, you know? What parent in their right mind would not go through a horrifying ordeal of fumbling with straps all over the place, and checking angles, only to find that there was a vital step they forgot 30 minutes before, if it wasn't in the child's best interest? I figure that I love my kids enough to go through anything, and so this is my way of proving it. If I can install this car seat, I know I can do anything for them."
Others appreciate the complicated process for reasons of keeping occupied. "As a parent," said one man who'd recently purchased the car seat, "I'm always looking for little projects that will take up large chunks of my day. There are just too many hours to fill up with things, and not enough to do. So I'm glad to have this to use up part of my time that I would otherwise be resting my eyes or feeding myself."
At current rates of sales, supplies are expected to run out in the next week. However, Graco assures interested customers that if they just drive around their neighborhoods, they are likely to find some that have been discarded out of frustration as the purchasers attempted unsuccessfully to install them.
Comments