But Wait, There's More!

Introduction

"But Wait, There's More!" is and has been the anthem for the infomercial for more than fifty years. Although you have hear the term and seen many of the commercials, the question still might be, "What is an infomercial?"

Infomercials are television commercials that, in today's market, run the length of a typical television program (roughly 28 minutes, 30 seconds). Infomercials, which are sometimes known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe), are usually shown off-peak hours, such as late at night, early in the morning and sundays before the nightly prime time programs.

The sales pitch has changed very little. A sales person, with much fanfare, demonstrates a product. Often times, this item may be unique. During the discussion, a "street price" is quoted, but that price is drastically reduced if the viewer purchases this product within a very short time. Then comes the anthem, "But Wait, There's More!" and the sales person either double the order or adds numerous small extras at no additional cost.

The first long (28 minute 30 second) infomercial is sometimes attributed to business partners Edward Valenti and Barry Beecher, who developed the format to sell the Ginsu Knife in 1984, but the roots of the infomercial go back much farther.

In the old west, wondering sales men, often referred to as " Snake Oil Salesman," traveled form town-to-town. In each community, they would stop, present a show with information from their wagon and sale a magic elixir that was suppose to cure almost any problem. As the western population centers grew, these hucksters moved to county fairs, carnivals and circuses.

In the late 1930s and early '40s, two brothers Samuel and Ray Popeil were these type of hucksters. They would stand at a table at the county fairs or on the boardwalks presenting a product. They were able to persuade people to reach in their pocket and buy something they had no intention of buying.The Popeils began wondered if this classic pitch technique would work on the newly emerging media — television?

In 1956, the Popeil brothers took $500 and placed Ron, Samuel's 21 year old son, before the camera to hawk the Chop-O-Matic. The commercial worked and worked well. They couldn't produce enough to keep up with demand. This is the very first television infomercial (play the video below from iFilm).

1956 thru 1976

By the early 1960s, RONCO, the company the the Popeils had started, and Ron Popeil's TV commercials were becoming a house hold fixture, but the debut of the Veg-O-Matic* really put them on the map and created an almost iconic view of Ron.

*Side Bar: NPR (National Public Radio) has three clips of Popeil TV commercials and the Dan Aykroyd parody. You can visit the Web site and download the clips or you may by pass the visit and download directly below. There is also a number of the Popeil commercials the can be viewed on iFilm.

The fame and the iconism of Ron Popeil and the RONCO commercial grew with the sale of the fictitious "Bass-O-Matic,"* a fish-blending machine pitched with gusto by Dan Aykroyd on NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1976.

The Project

Using parody and/or satire, you are to create a 3 to 5 minute RONCO-style commercial. The product that you pitch can be real or fictitious. Follow the sales format discussed in the introduction. View the clips form NPR and iFilm for ideal. Use Dan Aykroyd's Bass-O-Matic and the student project Bombard as examples.

Side Bar: Here is another lesson plan on satire using the "Simpsons" TV show. Although it is not "Project Based" enough for my usage, the mazterials and concepts are a great resource well worth using.

Video clips of Popeil TV commercials from NPR either visit the Web site or download them here.

Veg-O-Matic

Sit-on Trash Compactor

Bass-0-Matic (Saturday Night Live parody - © 1976 NBC)

Other Resources

• iFilm has many more Popeil commercial

• The Veg-O-Matic is featured in a Smithsonian Institution exhibit.

• Read a biography of Ron Popeil.