The clever
DaysAgo Counter from Double U Products appeared on the big screen last month! The movie,
Cold Souls, stars Paul Giamatti in a “surreal comedy” about a high-tech company that “extracts, deep-freezes and stores people's souls."
Kathleen Whitehurst, co-inventor of the Days Ago Counter, explained that the movie production people requested 300 counters to use on the storage lockers of the stored souls, to count how many days the souls have been stored. DaysAgo is even listed in the credits at the end of the movie.
You have to admit, that’s some creative product placement. This use certainly is more exciting than how I use the counters. I use them to keep track of Frontline and heart worm medication for my two Briards. I can NEVER remember what day I used these medications. Each dog has a set of two counters on the refrigerator. I’ve taught them to reset them with their nose. OK, maybe I just taught them to slobber on the counters while I reset them.
In my conversation with Kathleen this week, she told me that her goal is to make the DaysAgo counter as ubiquitous as Post-it® notes from 3M™. I thought that was an elegantly stated mission statement.
I had originally called her to ask about the most unusual uses for the counters that people have reported. She laughed and said you wouldn’t believe the diverse array of uses that people have found for this little counter that started out as a food freshness accessory.
That’s how I heard about the movie. I bet you didn’t know that Rolls Royce uses them in its production factories. Kathleen said she even got a letter from someone that claimed the counter saved their marriage – something about litter box changing schedules. Clearly I’m a dog person and, as such, am less familiar with this task.
One of the uses that I know Kathleen is so very proud of is counting the days between breast self-exams. As a breast cancer survivor, Kathleen is very active in promoting breast cancer awareness programs. Most recently, she partnered with Breast Cancer Network of Strength to promote early detection and breast self-exams. This organization provides emotional support to all those touched by breast cancer.
Lastly, I wanted to let everyone know that Kathleen is a finalist in a new program featuring “mom-entrepreneurs” hosted by Kelly Ripa. They interviewed 1,000 mom-inventors for 16 slots in the program. Kathleen is one of 50 finalists as I write this.
Have a safe holiday weekend!
