Ottawa-based Novel Solutions, maker of handy devices such as the Bookhug book holder and the Handyfold paper/letter folder, now brings us the Rimroller.

Paul Kind’s “labour-saving device” made it onto the front page (above the fold) of today’s Ottawa Citizen.

The device is aimed at assisting Tim Hortons coffee drinkers see if they won a prize during the company’s annual Roll Up the Rim To Win promotion, which started a couple of weeks ago on February 26, 2007.

So the release of the Rimroller is a little late and it is not yet available for purchase, although it will be soon through Lee Valley Tools.

In the Citizen article, they asked a few people what they thought about the Rimroller.  I think this comment from one person sums it up best:

“I won’t be buying one.  Nails and teeth work just as well.  But I didn’t think people would ever buy the pet rock either.”

With Tim Hortons selling 300 million cups of coffee per year, if only a small portion of those customers buy a Rimroller…

The other side of it is, given the popularity of Tim Hortons Roll Up the Rim To Win promotion across Canada, linking the Rimroller to it may be a good way for Novel Solutions to raise awareness of its other products amongst its target market (people that buy handy little time-saving devices) and drive sales of them.