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by - March 6, 2008 - 9:20 AM
Have you ever been laboriously peeling potatoes the old-fashioned way when suddenly you realized: “My life has been a waste! If only I had a set of Tater Mitts, I could have saved time and done something useful, like apply rhinestones and studs to all my clothing!” Of course you haven’t. No one has. Infomercial hucksters rely on lonely insomniacs with credit cards. There’s some sort of ambience in every living room during those late night TV viewing hours that makes the allure of an in-the-shell egg scrambler irresistible.
1. The Pocket Fisherman Breaks the Seal
The history of pitching unusual gadgets on television can be traced back to Samuel Jacob Popeil, known as S.J. to his family and friends. Popeil’s family had long been hawking various kitchen utensils at fairs and from roadside stands, but S.J. was the first to realize that a much larger audience could be reached via TV. The first gizmo he pitched on television was the Pocket Fisherman, small enough to keep in your glove compartment or briefcase in order to satisfy those sudden fly-casting urges. Even though veteran anglers debated the usefulness of the flimsy rod, Popeil retorted, “It’s not for using, it’s for giving.” The Pocket Fisherman is still selling millions of units annually today, some 40 years after the first commercial aired. Be sure to watch the video here.
2. The Guy Behind the Chia Pet is the same genius behind The Clapper
Ch-ch-ch-Chia turned into huge amounts of ch-ch-ch-change for Joseph Pedott. In the early 1970s he became aware of a small company in Chicago that was selling Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica, a member of the mint family, for the botanists in the audience) but was losing money on the deal. He bought the company and changed everything but the name. He came up with the idea of selling the seeds with a terra-cotta figure that would sprout vegetation and become known as a “Chia Pet.” Pedott is also the genius behind another infomercial favorite, the Clapper. He took an existing sound-activated device called “The Great American Turn-On,” tweaked it, renamed it, and…the rest is history.
3. But Wait! There’s more!: Where infomercial phrases are born (and what Ginsu knives have to do with ‘em)
Despite their Japanese-sounding name, Ginsu knives were originally manufactured in Fremont, Ohio (the plant has since moved to Arkansas). The company and the cutlery were both originally called Quikut, but Dial Media, the direct marketing company that was trying to sell them, thought that name was a little bland. They hired an advertising copywriter named Arthur Schiff to spice up their sales pitch. Schiff not only came up with a new name for the product – Ginsu – he also coined several phrases that are still staples in infomercials today, such as “Now how much would you pay?” and “Act now and you’ll receive…” But his pièce de résistance was “But wait! There’s more!” Dial Media also hired a local Japanese exchange student to portray a chef, and his karate-chopping method of slicing a tomato has become a kitschy classic.
4. Why Name Recognition is Important: The Tragedy Behind “I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up”
“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” LifeCall, a medical alert system, inadvertently launched a successful catchphrase in the late 1980s, thanks to stand-up comics and radio DJs endlessly poking fun at it. The voice of “Mrs. Fletcher” was provided by Edith Fore, a 70-something widow who’d been saved by LifeCall after a tumble down her home stairs in 1989. Fore was paid a one-time fee for her work in the infomercial and never received any royalties. Even though her phrase was printed on T-shirts and parodied in songs, LifeCall never saw an increase in sales, and eventually filed for bankruptcy. The problem was that while the public remembered the slogan, they couldn’t recall the product name. Mrs. Fore passed away in 1997 at the age of 81.
5. The Dark Secret Behind the Hoover Haircut
The Flowbee was invented by a San Diego carpenter named Rick Hunt. One day on the job he happened to notice how efficient his shop vacuum was at removing sawdust from his hair. Somehow he figured that the logical next step would be to add a razor into the equation and turn a vacuum cleaner into a home-based barber shop. Scoff if you will, but here’s the scary truth: in 2000 a columnist for Salon.com gave himself a Flowbee haircut and then visited several local barbers and hair stylists to ask their opinion, and all admitted it was a good cut.
6. All These Hits on One Giant LP
Long before Now That’s What I Call Music was a gleam in Richard Branson’s eye, there was K-Tel. For kids in the 1970s and early 1980s that didn’t have the cash to buy every single they liked, much less an album, K-Tel was the affordable pipeline to the hits of the day. Philip Kives was a salesman who hailed from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Much like S.J. Popeil, he’d started out selling kitchen gadgets, and eventually decided to branch out in to record albums. His idea – cram some 20 to 25 songs on one LP (the average album at the time held about a dozen songs) and pitch them on rapid-fire TV commercials. The ads were ahead of their time; serious musical artists of that era didn’t advertise on television, and young music buyers were mesmerized when they heard a succession of five-second snippets of their favorite tunes on TV. Then there was the price factor; at at time when a 45 rpm record cost 69 cents, K-Tel offered the equivalent of 20 45s for the low price of $4.99. Kives cut costs by using ultra-thin (read: cheap) vinyl for his albums, and mastered the records at a lower volume, resulting in very thin grooves that allowed for more songs on each side.
Comments (33)
Comment
One of the best posts EVER! I think you need to do a follow up focusing on the Popeil family. Ron has been going strong with his “set it and forget it”. And probably would like to forget his “spray on hair” (which it looks like he uses to this day).
There are so many “wonderful” infomercials out there to remember: Lori Davis Hair products (with Cher), Victoria Jackson make up, Lisa Gibbons Sheer Coverage…wait…it sounds like I’ve been watching too much tv! Oh no! I have!
posted by beth on 3-6-2008 at 9:29 am
One of the most horrifying moments of my life came when I turned on the TV very late at night one day and saw Roger Daltrey selling some kind of classic rock compilation.
posted by Fruppi on 3-6-2008 at 9:50 am
Needs more Bedazzler!
posted by Ira on 3-6-2008 at 10:12 am
That Flowbee works great!!!
posted by Moon on 3-6-2008 at 10:16 am
This post is awesome. Still about 25 years left on that Ginsu guarantee.
Hypothesis: the Flowbee is nothing but a thinly disguised SuckKut (”it sucks as it cuts!” “It certainly does suck!”) as demonstrated on Wayne’s World. Once again the little cable access show gets ripped off. Discuss!
posted by Greg on 3-6-2008 at 10:32 am
Ron Popeil is my hero
posted by Clotho on 3-6-2008 at 10:46 am
Freedom rock, man!!!
posted by MN on 3-6-2008 at 10:59 am
“was provided by Edith Fore, a 70-something widow who’d been saved by LifeCall after a tumble down her home stairs in 1989.”
“Even though her phrase was printed on T-shirts and parodied in songs, LifeCall never saw an increase in sales, and filed for bankruptcy in 1987.”
So she tumbled down the stairs two years after filing for bankruptcy? I got a feeling the chronology’s goofed up here.
posted by Dan on 3-6-2008 at 11:03 am
One time my car broke down in Lenoir City, TN (it’s small), so my then-boyfriend drove down from KY (I was going to see him) and we ended up spending the weekend there. On an exploratory journey around town (for pizza) we found Bubba’s–a gas station with a clown mascot named Bubba. The basement of the gas station was an As Seen on TV Warehouse!!!! Flowbees, Sobakawa pillows, Braidinis, you NAME IT. We were like kids in a candy store… except it was weirder.
posted by Katie on 3-6-2008 at 11:14 am
For part 2 (and there must be part 2; great article), we need to have the “Billy Mays Story”. Billy of Oxy Clean, Kaboom!, and about thirty other infomercials fame. He’s kinda creepy, but I find myself inexplicably entranced when he’s on. Must be the beard.
posted by Mike on 3-6-2008 at 11:18 am
K-Tel records… I found one at a garage sale while on holidays and played it on an old console stereo that was stored in a garage at my friends cabin. The kids were amazed that it worked (they’d never seen records being played before) and that their mom knew ALL THE WORDS. Maybe now they believe I was once young.
posted by Jennifer on 3-6-2008 at 11:18 am
Dan is right about the typo alert. Have fixed it and slunk away in shame.
posted by Kara on 3-6-2008 at 11:49 am
If the infomercial for the “Magic Bullet” is on while I am flipping channels I have to leave it on. It is irresistable! So is the “set it and forget it!” While you are watching the commercial (especially at 4am), you can’t imagine your life without said product.
posted by Kevin on 3-6-2008 at 11:49 am
When I was younger, perhaps 8ish, I loved the Ron Popeil Food Dehydrator Infomercial. I begged for one each Christmas and birthday. I eventually got one about 2 years ago and use it for backpacking trips. It takes POUNDS off of my packweight.
posted by Cassandra on 3-6-2008 at 11:57 am
Oh man, my extended family is from around Lenore City, TN! I’ve definitely been to the As Seen On TV store on the other side of Knoxville- it’s a pretty interesting place to look around.
posted by Megan on 3-6-2008 at 12:13 pm
I gotta agree with you Kevin. I love that “Magic Bullet” commercial. Doesn’t it seem like the host has a hangover? And that crazy older lady makes me laugh every time she talks.
My wife jokes that she is going to buy me a “Magic Bullet” for my birthday because I always point it out when we’re out shopping.
posted by Derek on 3-6-2008 at 12:24 pm
Actually, besides the cheap vinyl, the sucky thing about the K-Tel records was that to cram that many songs onto the discs, the tunes were almost invariably edited down to about two and a half minutes each. Some of those KTel edits were shockingly bad, and worth a blog post in themselves. Hmm, I may do that on my own site…
Fun fact: in the late 1990s, KTel briefly reappeared as a budget reissue/compilation label, and actually released some surprisingly good records! Their 30-track GIMME INDIE ROCK! compilation is genuinely great, featuring a ton of awesome and surprisingly obscure songs like Big Dipper’s “She’s Fetching” and Death of Samantha’s “Coca-Cola and Licorice”!
posted by Stewart on 3-6-2008 at 12:36 pm
As far as the magic bullet goes, the only recipe that works on that commercial is the drinks. You get slop with the salsa. If you try and make the “cheese” topping that is seen there, you will get clued together chips. But I have to admit, it makes a mean frozen margarita.
posted by D.Christian on 3-6-2008 at 12:39 pm
Anyone remember Santo Gold?
posted by Vorple on 3-6-2008 at 2:15 pm
The best line about the Food Dehydrator was:
“It takes a $24 steak and turns it into a 99 cent beef jerky!”
Hahahhaha!
/I think it was George Carlin, but I’m not sure.
posted by Moon on 3-6-2008 at 2:19 pm
Another suggestion for part II, Mr. Microphone.
“Hey good lookin’, we’ll be back to pick you up later!”
posted by Johnny Cat on 3-6-2008 at 4:34 pm
Then there’s the grandaddy of all Slicers/Dicers. It is, and I quote, “The World’s Fastest Food Preparation Appliance”. It is the one and only…. Veg-O-Matic!
We still have one. My grandfather loved gadgets. When they were new he bought a bunch of them for X-mas gifts.
posted by Tdave on 3-7-2008 at 3:43 am
What about Ronco? Remember the rhinestone and stud setter?
I actually collect K-tel LPs. It wasn’t intentional I just kept finding them at yard sales and next thing you know..
posted by Bassman on 3-7-2008 at 8:07 am
My boyfriend and I were actually talking about the “set it and forget it!” catchphrase. We determined that somewhere there’s a disclaimer stating that you can’t sue if you really forget to turn it off after a certain point. He kept insisting that you could sue if you left it on so long that it caught your house on fire; I kept insisting that there’s some legal jargon stating you can’t. Anyone care to settle this for us? (haha)
posted by Krie on 3-7-2008 at 8:43 am
When I was a kid, I actually used to get up super early on Saturday mornings just to watch infomercials. I’ve always wondered why some of these guys are considered experts, like that British guy (Robin, I think his name was), Billy Mays, and Chef Tony, are considered experts. Ron Popeil I get, he invented the stuff, but who are these guys?
I’m proud to say I carry a Smart Money Clip every day.
posted by Jim on 3-7-2008 at 9:24 am
I had a K-Tel record like that way back in the early 70s which featured song’s such as “Popcorn” by Hot Butter, “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos (except it cut the piano part at the end), “Dueling Banjos” by ???, “If Not For You” by Olivia Newton-John, and I don’t remember what else. But it was one of my favorite records growing up.
posted by Spocker on 3-7-2008 at 10:40 am
Oh Ron “set it and forget it” is great, here’s a short edit of that informercial (Quicktime), it could become a technosong, it’s hypnotic (click my name for the link)
posted by Dabitch on 3-8-2008 at 2:32 am
They might say “Set it and forget it” but the owner’s guide says “Do Not leave unit anattended while in use!” “Do not allow children to operate” and(haha) “Do not use while bathing!” etc. The company lawyers would point out those phrases in the courtroom.
posted by Tdave on 3-8-2008 at 2:59 am
I LOVE INFOMERCIALS!
Though after being burned by the “Eggstractor” I swore never to actually purchase anything again. It was a P.O.S!
My MIL did buy us a magic bullet for Christmas and we did make some good drinks in it.
I also love how informercials always act like the opposite of their product is chaos. There was an infomercial once for I think the click light and this woman is trying to find a flashlight and a whole mess of them falls down on her from the closet shelf. Hilarious!
posted by Sandy C on 3-10-2008 at 4:59 pm
I love being up late at night so that I may watch infomercials for hours on end. :)
I swear, those Magic Bullet infomercials are absolutely the BEST. The smoking old lady? Hilarious.
I too have a strange and morbid fascination with Billy Mays. But his volume control seems to be stuck.
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned a)that microwave bacon thingie from the 80s and b)spray on hair. How can we talk about Ron and not mention hair-in-a-can?
posted by Angie on 3-20-2008 at 8:04 am
Don’t forget that Ron Popeil was also credited with inventing the technology required to keep human heads alive in jars separate from their bodies (in Futurama, anyway)!
posted by Jess on 3-21-2008 at 2:22 pm
No one has mentioned Ron Popeil’s best line ever: “The only tears you’ll cry will be tears of joy”.
posted by BJ on 3-21-2008 at 4:46 pm
Don’t forget the Buttonneer…
posted by Kate on 4-15-2008 at 9:40 pm