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Dyson: Branding vacuum cleaners

Case study by Peter Spier

1. Extracts from the Dyson web site:

The Dual Cyclone™ system is the first breakthrough in technology since the invention of the
vacuum cleaner in 1901. The traditional bag has been replaced by two cyclone chambers
which cannot clog (block) with dust. After the Dyson's outer cyclone has spun out (prolong)
the larger dust and dirt particles, the inner cyclone accelerates the air still further to remove
the minute health-threatening particles.

James Dyson has proved a better product can be made at a price people can afford. As a result
the Dyson Dual Cyclone™ became the fastest selling vacuum cleaner ever to be made in the
UK.

…/…

To Dyson, 'design' means how something works, not how it looks - the design should evolve
from the function. That's why the people at Dyson who design products are called 'engineers'.

Dyson engineers constantly re-examine products of all types. One of the things they looked at
was the washing machine.

What makes Dyson different?


The Root Cyclone™ technology in Dyson vacuum cleaners separates dirt and dust from the
air by centrifugal force and collecting it in a bin. This means a Dyson doesn't rely on a bag or
filter and doesn't lose suction (is the process by which liquids, gases, or other substances are
drawn out of somewhere).

It's the only vacuum cleaner that works like a vacuum cleaner should.

No loss of suction
A Dyson uses Root Cyclone™ technology to separate dirt from the air by centrifugal force. It
doesn't rely on a filter that clogs, so suction remains constant, room after room after room.

Clean expelled (forced it out from container) air


Dyson technology captures particles as small as pollen, bacteria and mould spores. That's why
the air a Dyson expels has 150 times less pollen, bacteria and mould spores than the air you
breathe.

No extra costs
Replacement bags and filters for other vacuum cleaners can cost up to £250 over five years.
With a Dyson, you only pay once.

Built to last
During development, we beat, bash, freeze and drop our machines before we're satisfied with
them. That's how we know they work properly.

5 year guarantee
Every Dyson upright and cylinder vacuum cleaner is covered by a free 5 year parts and labour
guarantee. There is also a team of Dyson experts on hand 7 days a week if you need any
advice or assistance.

2. Extracts from Wikipedia:

Early inventions

The Sea Truck, Dyson's first product, was launched in 1970 whilst he was at the Royal
College of Art. Sales of the Sea Truck amount to $500 million. His next product, the
Ballbarrow, was a modified version of a wheelbarrow using a ball to replace the wheel. Dyson
remained with the idea of a ball, inventing the Trolleyball, a trolley that launched boats. He
then designed the Wheelboat which could travel at speeds of 64 km/h on both land and water.
Vacuum cleaners

DC07 Dyson vacuum cleaner


In the late 1970s Dyson had the idea of using cyclonic separation to create a vacuum cleaner
that wouldn't lose suction as it picked up dirt. He became frustrated with his Hoover Junior’s
diminishing performance: dust kept clogging the bag and so it lost suction. The idea of the
cyclones came from the spray-finishing room's air filter in his Ballbarrow factory. While
partly supported by his art teacher wife's salary, and after five years and 5,127 prototypes,
Dyson launched the 'G-Force' cleaner in 1983, the world's first bagless vacuum cleaner.
Unfortunately, no manufacturer or related distributor would launch his product in the UK as it
would disturb the valuable cleaner-bag market, so Dyson launched it in Japan through
catalogue sales. Initially manufactured in bright pink, the G-Force had a selling price of
£2,000 (British Equivalent). It won the 1991 International Design Fair prize in Japan. He
finally obtained his first U.S. patent on the idea in 1986 (U.S. Patent 4,593,429 ).

After failing to sell his invention to the major manufacturers, Dyson set up his own
manufacturing company. In June 1993 he opened his research centre and factory in
Malmesbury, Wiltshire. The product now outsells (sell more than) those of some of the
companies that rejected his idea and has become one of the most popular brands in the United
Kingdom. In early 2005 it was reported that Dyson cleaners had become the market leaders in
the United States by value (though not by number of units sold). Note that the US was
introduced to dyson when Root Cyclone was implemented, so in the US there were no sales of
the DC01 = DC05 Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaners. The Dyson Dual Cyclone™ became the
fastest selling vacuum cleaner ever to be made in the UK.

Dyson scientists were determined to create vacuum cleaners with even higher suction. It was
discovered that a smaller diameter cyclone gave greater centrifugal force. This led to a way of
getting 45% more suction than a Dual Cyclone and removing more dust, by dividing the air
into 8 smaller cyclones, hence the name Root 8Cyclone™. Dyson's breakthrough (important
development or achievement) in the UK market, more than 10 years after the initial idea, was
through a TV advertising campaign that emphasized that, unlike its rivals, it did not require
the continuing purchase of replacement bags. At that time, the UK market for disposable
cleaner bags was £100m. The slogan of 'say goodbye to the bag' proved more attractive to the
buying public than a previous emphasis on the suction efficiency that its technology delivers.
Ironically, the previous step change in domestic vacuum cleaner design had been the
introduction of the disposable bag - users being prepared to pay extra for the convenience of
dustless emptying.

Following his success the other major manufacturers began to market their own bagless
vacuum cleaners.

Quotations
• "I just want things to work properly."
• "Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success."
• "After the idea, there is plenty of time to learn the technology."

3. Notes on The Great Brand Stories: Dyson by Iain Carruthers


(Cyan, 2007)

The Good life: Sanctuary and domestic weaponry

Carruthers makes some interesting points about the importance of domestic space and
attitudes towards it. For modern man, domestic space is a form of sanctuary. Everyone wants
‘the good life’ – organised, clean space in which they can be protected from the trials and
tribulations of modern existence. The DIY boom is indicative of this, as, too, is the trend of
home improvements: magazines, TV shows, shops… The modern space is functional, open
space, with clean lines. This implies also that things are much more on view, and that as a
result people have to maintain that space: keep it clean, ordered, and looking as it should.
Colours are light.

To ensure sanctuary, the space has to be protected. That means better business for burglar
alarms, but also greater security at the level of cleanliness.

Household cleaning is a complex issue that functions on three levels: the obvious, physical
dirt that is visible; the bacteria that threaten health and children; the molecular level, where
you find the allergens and pollutants that are ingested through breath or skin – the ones that
remain mysterious. The latter cannot be destroyed, but they can be displaced or removed. It
is they that create problems for those suffering from asthma or allergies (become ill when
eating, smelling, touching...).

This dirt represents disorder that has to be overcome and brought under control. The design
of kitchens has become increasingly sleek and metallic. Cleaning ladies are everywhere.
Cleaning products have become condensed (changes into a liquid) into gels and powerballs.
These products have trigger sprays, and delightfully combative names like Cillit Bang. More
power, more effectiveness to fight the war against dirt. Product and graphic design
emphasizes their power, and they become armoured by language too. On one product we are
told: ‘lock nozzle flip into arrow on the top before use’. It sounds more like a surface to air
missile than a simple cleaning product!

A recent spray that has been brought out on the market allows the housewife to get rid of bad
smells, while also killing bacteria on smooth surfaces and textiles alike. The TV adverts show
her moving round the home liberally spraying surfaces and objects to make sure that her
domestic space is odour- and germ-free. An inset shows the bacteria being destroyed by the
spray.

Quotations from three women illustrate attitudes to domestic space:

“It’s like, it’s my space and my environment… and I’m in command round here!”

“What I want to do is get the place sorted quite quickly when I get in from work, so it’s all
quite intense for 15 minutes or so till it’s back like it should be in my mind.”

“Look at that [entering the front door after the cleaner has been]… she’s been. It’s all perfect
again.”

It is against this background that one must view the arrival of the Dyson. An early press ad
shows a fairly revolting pile of dust and fluff. It’s labelled dust mite faeces, viruses, pollen,
pet hairs. The proposition is that bags lose suction, leaving this lot on your home. It uses the
simple provocation of disgust, plus the promise of immediate and continuing annihilation.

One of the interviewees grabs the telescopic handle of the Dyson, points it at no-one in
particular and utters the immortal words of Sigourney Weaver in Alien: “Get back bitch!”

Another comment: “It looked like it was going to do the business, unlike those beige and grey
objects of your childhood”.

And another comment about one of the most recent designs: “It looks like a pet robot, but
from the Navy”

The transparent bin seems to have been a stroke of genius, allowing users to see all the dirt
being sucked up by the machine. A quotation from two users:
“I’m looking at this, and I’m thinking, this is all my shit, and there’s loads of it”
“God, I know, there was three buckets of the stuff”.

Interior space and it’s management quickly become a setting for status symbols. Retailers
like Habitat (UK), Crate & Barrel (US), Ikea (everywhere) ask us to constantly look anew at
the things surrounding us in our interiors. Their ambition is to make us upgrade everything:
kitchens, crockery… When we buy our scented candles or our stainless steel chef’s hob we
buy conferred status. Or depending on how severe you want to be, we buy participation in
fantasies about what our life could be! Take the Aga oven, for example: a massively
expensive range cooker that is bought for one reason only – to engage the fantasy of the
country kitchen where privately educated children rush in from the garden to be served a
casserole that Mother has knocked together while organizing the village fête, while father is
doing something distant and professional.
The domestic appliances industry in the early 80s

The Dyson was a clear challenge to received thought in the domestic appliances industry.
One of the rules was that the majority of vacuuming is done by women. As a result, vacuums
should be feminized, cushioned (reduce), and discreet (small in size or degree, or not easily
noticed), the dirt and workings concealed (cover it or hide it carefully) from the female eye.
“I won’t be a moment” they should say, “then you can put me back in the cupboard”. They
were bland, and beige. Performance was measured in terms of sucking power, but dust was
caught in bags that soon became clogged up, making the fan less effective. The solution was
simple: change the bag. This was an important part of the business model for the appliance
manufacturers: The bag replacement market was about £100m in the UK and at least ten times
greater in the USA. The need to change bags locked customers in to the producers and
guaranteed a steady stream of income. Innovation in vacuum cleaners was incremental: better
bags, more suction, beating brushes, even models with headlights for those dark, awkward
spots!

Lessons from failure: The Contrarotor washing machine

Dyson set about redesigning the washing machine in the same way he had done with vacuum
cleaners. In his view, traditional washing machines leave clothes lying around far too long in
dirty water. Hand washing is in fact kinder to clothes and much more effective in that the
fibres of the garments are manipulated far more, giving the detergent more chance to work.
After looking at a range of solutions, Dyson produced a washing machine with two drums
housed in the same machine but moving in opposite directions in contra-rotation. There were
many other improvements: better door seals, no clogging conditioner drawers, kink-free hoses
and roller jack wheels for moving the machine about.

The Contrarotator was launched in the UK in 2001. It offered a radical new design and better
performance at a substantial premium. Here was a market with a £300-£500 modal price
point and the Dyson was priced just below £1000. Proportionally it was similar to the
premium asked for the Dyson vacuum, but how much better was the washing going to be for
that?

Like the vacuum cleaner, the Contrarotator had to tackle the main category benefit head-on.
For the vacuum cleaner, it had been necessary to convince people of the difference between
flat-out suction (the standard industry benchmark) and not losing suction over a period of
time. For the washing machine, this was even more difficult. How would you answer the
question: “Does it wash better, and at that price, twice as well?” Here, the claim was: we
believe it washes more clothes, very well, in a shorter time period, and with less damage.

One consumer sums up the situation nicely: “I remember using the washing machine for the
first time, and it’s great, don’t get me wrong, but when I got out the clothes, they were, well,
washed. There was none of that ‘blimey’ you got with the hoover. Sorry, the Dyson”

Faster washing was not considered a strong enough advantage – people were used to putting
on a wash and doing something else while waiting. The additional load capacity (7kg as
opposed to the normal 4-5 kg) was not perceived as an outstanding benefit either as people
separated out washes into different colours etc.

The machine sold a little in the premium part of the market but never reached the volumes
that would make it attractive to major retailers.

4. Additional note:

It is interesting to see that on UK television a new programme is built


around the apparent fascination that people have for household dirt. This
has to be reality TV at its ‘dirtiest’! Two ‘cleaning ladies’, armed with their
know-how and a team of cameramen, go to the house of a person who is
literally living in filth. These are houses which have not been cleaned for
years, and the dirt and grime have built up. The immediate reaction is
one of disgust, but also fascination. The programme shows how the
cleaning ladies win the war against dirt!

5. Extracts from Amazon.com

James Dyson, the man who pioneered the "bagless" vacuum cleaner, says he stumbled
across the idea while renovating his country house in the Cotswolds.

Noticing how vacuum cleaner bags clogged with dust, he set to


work to try to resolve the problem.

Five years and 5,127 prototypes later, the G Force Dual Cyclone
arrived and revolutionised the vacuum cleaner market.

His company - with its distinctive range of boldly-coloured


products - is now said to be Europe's fastest growing
manufacturer and has achieved sales of over £3bn worldwide,
with £35m profit in 2000.

Fashionable
The Ballbarrow was one of
He launched his first product, the Sea Truck, in 1970 while still a Dyson's first inventions
student.
Over the next few years came the award-winning Ballbarrow, the Wheelboat and the
Trolleyball.

In 1978 he came up with the idea of a bagless cleaner.

After five years in development and two more trawling the UK


and Europe looking for someone to license the product, Dyson
finally took it to Japan.

It won the 1991 International Design Fair prize in Japan and


became a status symbol there, selling for $2,000 a time.

Its must-have status was further reinforced when fashion


designer Sir Paul Smith starting selling it in his London clothes
store.

Dyson products are now on display at museums across the world,


including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the San Dyson is Britain's 37th richest
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Georges Pompidou Centre man

in Paris and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

Using income from the Japanese licence, Dyson decided to manufacture a new model
under his own name in the UK.

In June 1993 he opened his research centre and factory in Wiltshire and developed the
DCO1, the first in a range of cleaners offering constant suction.

It became the fastest selling vacuum cleaner ever to be made in the UK and was followed
by the Root Cyclone vacuum cleaner and the Dyson DC06 robot, which guides itself
around a room.

Manufacturer's Description
The Dyson DC07 Origin is an upright vacuum cleaner that uses root cyclone technology
for even higher suction to pick up more dust. It is hygienic and quick to empty; and
comes with a reversible wand that makes cleaning stairs and corners easier.

Root8Cyclone technology: Dyson Root8Cyclone not only gives constant suction, but has
even higher suction power to pick up more dust.

B.A.F. Seal of Approval: The British Allergy Foundation aims to improve awareness of and
treatment of allergies and advises people of allergy-friendly products to buy. DCO7 uses
Root8Cyclone technology to maintain constant suction and to remove even the smallest
particles of dust, which is why it has been endorsed by B.A.F.

Reversible wand: The wand reverses to reach awkward areas more easily and with a
better grip.

Hygienic and quick to empty: The trigger in DCO7's carry handle releases a 'trapdoor' in
the clear bin, so you can empty the dust quickly and hygienically.

Clear bin: This has 4 clear advantages:

 You can see how well the Dyson works


 There are no bags to buy
 You can always tell when it's full
 It is easy to empty

Auto carpet-height adjustment: Maintains perfect contact with the floor, with no awkward
dials to adjust.

Fastest stair cleaning: With no hose attachments to fit, just press the catch and the hose
and wand are ready to use immediately. The quick-draw hose stretches to 6 times its
own length to reach the top of the stairs quickly and easily.

Car and upholstery cleaning: Attach tools directly to the end of the hose for easy cleaning
in tight spaces.

On-machine tool storage: Tools store securely on the machine so they're always to hand.

Blockage removal: Easy access to airways ensure that you can quickly remove any
blockage.

Automatic suction changeover valve: Transfers suction automatically from the cleaner
head to the hose when the machine is in the upright position.

Lifetime washable filters: Lifetime washable filters and no bags to buy.

Reviews
FREE 5 Year Guarantee with this product! For additional features such as brush control
please see the DC07i DC07 Origin Dyson bagless upright, our best selling
Dyson!,Root8Cyclone technology,B.A.F. Seal of Approval,Reversible wand,Hygienic and
quick to empty

6. Extracts from a forum in the USA:

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vacuum?
Posted by Cory (My Page) on
Sun, Jan 2, 05 at 21:03
The yellow upright kind. My sister swears by it, but boy! it sure is expensive
($400!)We've got 3 dogs and 2 cats so lots of animal hair. I have a bag type vacuum
now because I hate the way the filters in bagless get all clogged up. I have to use my
bag vacuum to clean the filter on my bagless!So what's your opinion on this type
vacuum, both good or bad. Thanks, Cory
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by cupajoe (My Page) on

Tue, Jan 4, 05 at 21:52

Joy.I have a few questions about it as well.Can you clean your house from top to
bottom without having to clean the filter out?That is the problem I have with the
hepa filter vacs that I'm currently using.i also wanted to know how the hose is
made.Is it rubber or plastic?Does it seem secure enough to make it through two or
more houses a day?Have you cleaned a staircase with yours yet?Is it heavy?
TIA,sandy
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by Cory (My Page) on

Tue, Jan 4, 05 at 23:02

Hey cupajoe. I thought, who better to ask about vacuums performance than a vacuum
repair shop? I picked 3 randomly out of the phone book and asked each about their
opinion of the Dyson. I got neg. responses from every single one of them. Not just
the Dyson in particular, but ALL bagless models. Problem being that the filters get
clogged up and to replace the filter costs "and arm and a leg" Which I was wondering
about because I have a bagless cheapy Eureka I bought simply because it folded flat
and could vacuum under the bed. Works great at picking up all the dog hair, but then
I have to use my regular (bagged)vacuum to suck all the hair out of the filter!
Anyway, for my situation (carpet, tile and hardwood floors) all the carpet guys
recommended I use a canister type Bagged vacuum. Glad I learned this before I
plunked down $400!! Cory
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by hamptonmeadow (My Page) on

Wed, Jan 5, 05 at 12:50

The whole purpose of the Dyson is that it doesn't clog. It is engineered not to clog.
Vacuum cleaner salesmen have a vested interest in telling you they don't like bagless
because they don't sell them. They don't sell Dyson's. Personally, I would listen to
the people on this board instead of the vac salesmen.
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by Cory (My Page) on

Wed, Jan 5, 05 at 16:17

I called vacuum REPAIR shops, not vacuum Sales shops. And you know, when you
think about it, common sense is All filters can clog. I mean the whole purpose of a
filter is to Trap stuff right? Every filter in my life weather it be AC filter, car filter,
fridge filter, humidifier filter etc.. has to be changed or cleaned at some point. I just
have a hard time believing that the Dyson is engineered to "never" clog. And why is
the warranty only 2 yrs? Just wondering...

• Posted by Hosta_Mom (My Page) on

Sat, Jan 8, 05 at 7:24

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I have the Dyson "animal" model (the purple one)& I
absolutely LOVE it. I bought it Feb. 2004 when we bought a new house.

I have a black long haired dog in the house with light beige carpeted floors & my
Dyson has been a lifesaver. It has not once clogged & it has more suction power than
any other vac I've ever owned. I've had dirt devils, bissells, rainbow, thermax,
hoover, & electrolux.......none of them compare to my dyson for ease of use &
suction power.

I also swap it over to bare floors to do my tile & linoleum with it, I never sweep any
more. The only thing I would be hesitant to use it on would be hardwood because of
the hard wheels.

I got mine on sale at best buy for just under $400.00 & I bought the 5 year extended
waranty for an additional $25.00.
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by chinacat_sunflower (My Page) on

Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 13:50


:) have it... brother in law bought one, I tried it out while we were dog-sitting for
them...

it must be noted that it not only collected enough dog hair to make a poodle- it
collected dog DANDER. not just off the couch... this thing rumbles in a register that
fails to annoy me and other sensitive-eared animals...

I actually used it to vacuum the rottweiler.

DH bought me one a week later...

and I'm a total fan.

it's not the lightest vacuum in the world...but the hose reaches to the top of my stairs,
so I don't HAVE to carry it up stairs if I don't want to (the weight doesn't bother me
at all, I consider it exercise)

the 'trigger' flap-door makes cleaning the cannister a snap, and while I do rinse out
the pre- filter once a month intsead of the every three months the tell you to- I
haven't had any trouble with it.

and it really doesn't clog. not even when faced with the dust-spiders that my long-
haired husband and I produce in volume!
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by cupajoe (My Page) on

Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 23:25

Okay,I tried the Animal at a client's house.The animal is too hard for me to
push.Since it doesn't have powerdrive,body weight ratio to the suction force of the
vaccuum is going to make this vaccuum difficult to use for anyone in the hundred
pound weight class.Suction was fantastic.I was cleaning a house with animals that
shed huge volumes of hair,so it was nice not having to empty the filter in each
room,but I didn't make it through two rooms with that vaccuum.There is no way I
could use it all day.I did try a Dyson canister vac that I probobly could handle.I'm
glad i had the oportunity to try one before spending money on it.I put it in the same
class as the windtunnel vac-that is,too difficult for anyone weighing less than 120.
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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by SusanJN (My Page) on


Wed, Jan 12, 05 at 17:17

chinacat,

Do you have the yellow or purple (Animal) Dyson? I have 4 cats, and your post is
making me want to spring from my chair to go get one!

cupajoe,

So in order to use the Dyson I'd better keep eating that chocolate so I don't
accidentally drop any weight? :):):)

I'm just liking this thing more and more!

• Posted by Twinkle (My Page) on

Wed, Feb 16, 05 at 13:39

I just bought a Dyson and I am in LOVE!

I have been researching these for awhile, but couldn't bring myself to pay that much
for a vacuum cleaner until I realized my allergies kept getting worse and worse.
Well, it is worth every single penny. I got the DC07 Full Gear at Costco for $429 - a
fantastic deal. This is the same as the purple Animal model, minus the carpet
chemical kit, but comes with a three-yr warranty, vs. the one-yr warranty on the
purple model. I'd rather have a longer warranty instead of some carpet shampoo.

This vacuum does everything advertised. I put a new bag and filter in my old Eureka
vacuum and vacuumed my carpets. Then I re-vacuumed with the Dyson. It picked up
enough cat hair to make a new cat, and the amount of dust it collected was
disgusting.

The mini-turbo tool is what you need for pet hair. We tried the other attachments on
the pet hair, and they don't pick up like the mini-turbo. Don't bother getting the
yellow model if you have pets, because it doesn't come with the mini-turbo. We
vacuumed our sofas, our drapes, our chairs, each other, basically everything in the
house that might have pet hair on it. It worked on every surface. It's better than a lint
roller. It's better than duct tape. It's better than any upholstery-brush attachment I've
used on any other vacuum. It actually works. (What a concept!)

My son thought it was cool to see all the stuff being sucked up. His friends called on
the phone, and he told them he would have to call back because he was busy
vacuuming. HELLO!

The tools are not at all difficult to use, and the hose reaches to the top of the stairs.
The canister empties from the bottom and into the trash can by pulling a trigger at the
top. This is GREAT for allergy sufferers, because you don't have to touch the dust or
get close enough to breath it in.

Did I mention I like this vacuum?


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RE: anyone have a Dyson vacuum?

• Posted by JerriEllijay (My Page) on

Sat, Dec 17, 05 at 15:10

I have 3 dogs and 1 long hair cat. I purchased the yellow model at Wal-Mart and
LOVE it. It's easy to carry up the stairs and easy to empty the canister.

Since really crappy vacuums run at least $100, it didn't seem like a stretch to pay
$400 for a really good one.

jerri

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