method retrospect

vroom brand car care products

I told you I'd get to these someday! I'm just, well, lazy. Yeah, that's it. Why hide it! Ok? Ok. Time for another method retrospect! Where we take a moment to remember those wonderful products that came and went. To method product Heaven is where they went. Oh WOE is me, to method product Heaven! But they shall forever be in our hearts. Our obsessive method product filled hearts. Maybe that's why I have no boyfriend, I have no room left for love. For my heart is all full of method products. Ok, wait, that's just so sad... so very sad. I think we need a moment of silence here.

OK! So today we're featuring the vroom brand car care line! Did you purchase these products when they were released, in 2005? Here's a bit of background:

"Target Corp., Method's largest customer, signaled its belief in the brand when it approached the company to develop a new category; which was the "catalyst" to launch Vroom.

The automotive merchandisers at Target saw that existing products did not engage the store's target customer. Target approached Method to devise something to appeal to soccer moms instead of hardcore car enthusiasts. It took Method three months to go from idea to a packaged product.

"When you have a major retailer give you the support this launch (of Vroom) will have, it gives you confidence to put capital investment into a new brand," said Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method with Adam Lowry. He said Target saw only the Vroom concept and signed on for "endcap displays," the coveted real estate at the end of a shopping aisle. Vroom was fully funded by Method; Target provided no financial support."

The product line included: all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner (which you can see in the photo to the very left; it's all bubbly cause I just dropped it on the floor right before the photo was taken, ha! It doesn't come pre-bubbled like that!), tire shine, protectant (for your car interior), air plug-ins (not pictured), hand wipes (for carrying in your car), interior refreshers (scented sprays for your car interiors; the item I keep mentioning would work great as a Febreze competitor); and a multitude of mitts, cloths, and such.

Most of the cleaners were actually unscented. Which surprised me coming from method (perhaps this was due to them only having three months to create these products?) I expected the glass cleaner to maintain it's method style mint, and so on. But they were all unscented; excluding the air plug-ins (which you snapped onto your car air vent), hand wipes and the interior refreshers. These items came in Sea Flower (an AMAZING scent! I wish method would bring this fragrance to the method line!), Lavender Vanilla, Mandarin Melon, and Basil Verbena (another scent I loved.)

Sadly the line lasted little more than two years (ending around 2007.) I'm not sure why it didn't work, or if method simply didn't want to focus on that area of cleaners long term. I think a lot of the ideas and products could have been brought in under the method brand (as this brand was labeled: vroom brand, a method "people against dirty' product.)

You can actually still find a vroom brand line at Target, though it's only fabric items (cleaning cloths, mitts, sponges and the such); no cleaners. Target somehow retained that name from method (unfortunately I don't know the details) and kept those products around. I've always wondered if that caused any confusion for method.

I loved the line (big surprise there, right?) and HELLO method, (I keep beating this horse dead, but hoping sooner or later they hear me. Hello, hello? Anyone there?) Vroom brand interior refreshers = method Febreze competitor. It's PERFECT!

Did you purchase this line? Lusted after it? Didn't really like it? What were your thoughts? Drop me some comments! Thanks!