Buzz
Ever been stuck peeling potatoes the old-fashioned way, when suddenly it hits you: "My life could have been so much easier! If only I had Tater Mitts, I could’ve saved so much time and actually done something productive, like adding rhinestones and studs to all my clothes!" Of course, this hasn’t happened to anyone. Infomercial pitchmen count on the insomniacs with credit cards. There’s a unique magic that fills the air during those late-night TV hours, making even an egg scrambler seem like an essential purchase.
1. The Pocket Fisherman Makes Its Big Debut
2. The Genius Behind the Chia Pet Also Created The Clapper
Joseph Pedott turned Ch-ch-ch-Chia into a profitable empire. In the early '70s, he discovered a small Chicago-based company selling Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica, for the botanists out there) but struggling financially. He bought the company and revamped everything, except the name. He introduced the idea of selling the seeds alongside a terra-cotta figurine that would sprout plants and become known as the iconic 'Chia Pet.' Pedott also revolutionized another infomercial favorite, the Clapper. By tweaking an existing sound-activated product, ‘The Great American Turn-On,’ he rebranded it and... the rest is history.
3. But Wait! There's More!: The Origins of Infomercial Catchphrases (and the Ginsu Knife Connection)
Despite their seemingly Japanese origin, Ginsu knives were actually first produced in Fremont, Ohio (though the manufacturing plant has since relocated to Arkansas). Initially branded as Quikut, the knives were renamed after Dial Media, the direct marketing company promoting them, deemed the original name too dull. They enlisted ad copywriter Arthur Schiff to energize their marketing. Schiff not only created the iconic name 'Ginsu' but also coined many phrases still used in infomercials today, such as 'Now how much would you pay?' and 'Act now and you'll receive...'. His masterpiece, however, was the classic 'But wait! There's more!' Dial Media also hired a local Japanese exchange student to play a chef, whose karate-chop technique for slicing tomatoes became a nostalgic staple.
4. The Power of Name Recognition: The Tragic Story Behind 'I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up'
'I've fallen and I can't get up!' LifeCall, a medical alert service, unintentionally gave birth to a memorable catchphrase in the late '80s, thanks to comedians and radio personalities lampooning it relentlessly. The line was spoken by Edith Fore, a 70-something widow who had been saved by LifeCall after falling down her stairs in 1989. She was paid a one-time fee for her appearance in the commercial but never earned royalties. Despite the phrase being printed on T-shirts and parodied in songs, LifeCall saw no significant increase in sales and eventually went bankrupt. The issue was that while the public remembered the phrase, they couldn't recall the product name. Fore passed away in 1997 at 81.
5. The Hidden Truth Behind the Hoover Haircut
6. All Your Favorite Hits on One Massive LP
Before Now That's What I Call Music even existed, there was K-Tel. For kids in the 1970s and early '80s who couldn't afford to buy every single they loved, let alone a full album, K-Tel became their budget-friendly source for the latest hits. Philip Kives, a salesman from Winnipeg, Manitoba, had started out selling kitchen gadgets, but eventually ventured into the world of record albums. His concept was simple yet groundbreaking—fit 20 to 25 songs onto a single LP (while typical albums of the time held about 12 songs) and advertise them with fast-paced TV commercials. These ads were ahead of their time, as serious musical acts didn’t advertise on television back then, and young music fans were captivated by quick five-second clips of their favorite tracks. The kicker? At a time when a single 45 rpm record cost 69 cents, K-Tel sold the equivalent of 20 singles for just $4.99. Kives kept costs low by using thin, cheap vinyl and lowering the mastering volume, which resulted in extremely narrow grooves, allowing more songs to fit on each side of the album.
