5/30/2009 - Rap Chop (500th post)

Holy crap! I can't believe this is my 500th post! And what better way to celebrate than with one of the coolest videos on YouTube? One that takes one of my favorite infomercials and edits it into a music video! A software program called Auto-Tune was used to control the pitch of Vince's voice so that it appears he's actually harmonizing with the background tunes. I'm sure it's not as automatic as it sounds, but with a lot of editing, the end result really is a full music video:



I think that if this version of the infomercial hit the air, even more people would by the Slap Chop.

4/18/2009 - Mr. T on the Flavorwave Oven Infomercial

You know me to be an infomercial junkie, and I've probably seen them all. I don't know how this one escaped me. I've seen some infomercials of the Flavorwave Oven before, including it's competition, the Nu-Wave oven. This one is new to me though. It has the special privilege of including none other than Mr. T himself. Now, you might think that it would be an unbeatable combination. After all, George Foreman touted his Foreman Grill and made it into an overnight success. Mr. T was also known to be a (fictional) bruiser in the 80's, and he's much more flamboyant than George Foreman ever was. For some reason, however, it just doesn't work:



Maybe it's just me, but I just can't see Mr. T dressed in khaki's.

2/26/2009 - Vince with Slap Chop

I'm an infomercial addict and it's been a while since I've seen a really good one. I think the last good one I've seen until recently was the Ronco knives. Even though they were a direct copy of the Ginzu knives, Ron Popeil can still sell them as if they were his own product. Ever since that last infomercial by Ron, all we have seen are "mini-infomercials" (ones that don't go for a whole half hour) that mostly feature Billy Mays, a loud-mouth third-rate salesman in my opinion.

Then came Vince with the ShamWow. Even though it's still a mini-infomercial, and absorbent shammies aren't new, Vince is what makes it a great infomercial. He speaks with such speed, he sounds like an auctioneer. And it sounds like he isn't going from a script: a lot of it sounds ad-libbed. Take for example, "It's made in Germany... you know the Germans make good stuff." I also love his little dig at Ron Popeil when he says near the end "we can't do this all day". Ron is famous for giving an initially large price for the product only to lower the price five or six times to its final cost.

It was Vince's first infomercial and already he seemed like a natural. His instant popularity would seen lead to selling another product: the Slap Chop. He has the same delivery style and the same unnecessary headset microphone. This product is also nothing new, but the infomercial is already one of my favorites:



Reasons why I love this infomercial:

1) "I love pizza too, but once in a while get the veggies in."
2) "Stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life."
3) The sparkle effects.
4) The perfect backwards toss into the sink.
5) "Life's hard as it is, you don't want to cry anymore."
6) The unnecessary arrow pointing to the onion skin.
7) "Fettuccine, linguine, martini, bikini."
8) The "Beware of imitators" disclaimer when the Slap Chop itself is an imitator.

and of course

9) "You're gonna love my nuts."

11/9/2008 - Bacon Salt recent press montage

I just realized that one of the great things about having a blog is that I can promote products that I really like and sort of advertise these products to an audience that may not be aware of them. Such is the case with Bacon Salt. I heard about Bacon Salt through an "As Seen on TV" news segment even though it doesn't have its own infomercial.

Bacon Salt is exactly what it sounds like: it's a seasoning that tastes like bacon. Bacon is probably universally liked by everyone, including myself. The concept of Bacon Salt is that it makes things taste like bacon... brilliant, no? Well, it was so appealing to me that I made it a mission to try to find it in stores. In Tucson, Arizona it's not an easy thing to find these niche items, but I was able to find it after a few tries. So I gave it a try and I really, really like it! I've been putting it on everything to hamburgers (why pay more for bacon?), corn, popcorn, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It doesn't taste EXACTLY like bacon, but it's really close and it's pretty darned good.

Even though I think this product will take off and eventually be found in every store's spice isle, I'm not taking anything to chance and will do my part to promote it on this blog. Here's a montage of press segments about Bacon Salt:

7/12/2008 - Poopfreeze -- Frost it and toss it!!

God bless infomercials... they've given us so much entertainment. From the kitchen gadgets of Ron Popeil to whatever Billy Mays is hawking at the moment, infomercial products have ranged from being ingenious to totally useless. Even if it is a useless product, though, you can still market it as if were the second coming. But sometimes you only have a minute or two to do that and you have to be creative. And that's why some infomercials are blast to watch, even if you aren't tempted to get the product they're selling. For example, I don't have pets, and yet I am mesmerized by this infomercial:



So instead of "set it and forget it", you have "frost it and toss it". Brilliant. Hmmm... even though I don't have pets, I am tempted to get Poopfreeze (gotta love that name). I mean, how cool would it be to have your own canister of liquid nitrogen?

4/12/2008 - neti pot

Normally, I'm a fan of all infomercials. They usually showcase some cool gadget or invention in such a cheesy way that may not necessarily influence you to buy the product, but it will at least leave a lasting impression. This may not be an infomercial... it's actually more of a demonstration video, but it certainly leaves an impression. And NOT in a good way. It's a video that demonstrates how to use a "neti pot", something that is supposed to irrigate your nasal cavity. Why is this product necessary? I'm still scratching my head on that one. What's more disturbing is watching it in action. If you think it's disgusting to see someone picking their nose, try watching this and not wincing:



They try to make the video seem serene and soothing with the soft focus and the background guitar music, but that only makes it more unsettling. I guess if I made a video of someone cleaning out their nose, I'd try to distract from its gross nature as well. I mean, why didn't they go all the way and demonstrate an enema? I think that would at least be more entertaining.