Isn't this just The J. Peterman story re-told? http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1677-j-peterman-selling-stori...

Yes, putting nice, long-form copy around regular objects will get them to sell better. I'm pretty sure this phenomenon has been around for a long, long time.

The big thing is a) you can't lie (like some of those stories do) and b) coming up with a consistent voice and narrative is actually quite difficult.

(Disclaimer: I used to be the CTO of J. Peterman)