# But wait! There's more! Or not. Ron Popeil has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [July 29, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567 "2021-07-29T01:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/1 "2021-07-29T01:50:12Z")
> **[Ron Popeil, ‘Set it and forget it’ infomercial star, dead at 86](https://nypost.com/2021/07/28/ron-popeil-set-it-and-forget-it-infomercial-star-dead-at-86/)** > > Ron Popeil is famous for the catchphrase, “But wait, there’s more!” Frankly, I thought he was older and died a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/2 "2021-07-29T01:51:11Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9BX56syrmWQ/hqdefault.jpg "Mr. Popeil - "Weird Al" Yankovic") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BX56syrmWQ) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/3 "2021-07-29T02:03:52Z")
A fun book on him is Tim Samuelson’s “[But Wait, There’s More! The Irresistible Appeal and Spiel of Ronco and Popeil](https://www.amazon.com/But-Wait-Theres-More-Irresistible/dp/0847824314).” Malcolm Gladwell had a good [profile on Popeil in The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/10/30/the-pitchman/amp) (paywalled). ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/4 "2021-07-29T02:07:10Z")
I guess he really _was_ here just for a limited time. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/5 "2021-07-29T02:14:41Z")
And that’s not all! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/6 "2021-07-29T02:27:14Z")
Undertakers are standing by! ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/7 "2021-07-29T02:39:32Z")
The funeral will include the casting of 21 pocket fishermen lures. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/8 "2021-07-29T02:47:10Z")
There was an interview with Ron in the book As Seen On TV!. That book is informative, fun, slices, dices and really works! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/9 "2021-07-29T04:22:03Z")
Popeil named the mid-1970’s “Bionic Knife” that because he was dating Lindsay Wagner at the time, according to an author of one of the works about him. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/10 "2021-07-29T06:44:49Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > The funeral will include the casting of 21 pocket fishermen lures. And the PA system used by the eulogist will consist of a Mr. Microphone broadcasting through an FM radio. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/11 "2021-07-29T09:42:39Z")
Groom it…and entomb it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/12 "2021-07-29T12:17:25Z")
He produced a lot of gimmicky plastic garbage, but he was a hell of a salesman. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/13 "2021-07-29T12:51:53Z")
I’ll share one amusing memory I have of a Ron Popeil infomercial-- years ago, late at night, I was watching one for some reason- I think I had had a couple beverages and was watching with kind of a morbid fascination. It was for this product that you spray on bald spots to cover them up, that sprayed some kind of fibrous stuff that looked vaguely like hair. Ron was going to demonstrate on his own bald spot. He chose the ‘jet black’ color, despite the fact his hair was well on its way to going gray. His assistant said “maybe you should go with the ‘salt and pepper’ color, Ron”. Ron said, “no, I think jet black is the best color match”. His assistant said no more but had a skeptical look on her face, like she was trying very hard not to roll her eyes. When Ron was finished and bent his head down to show the results to the camera, the color difference was so apparent that it looked like he was wearing a hairy black yarmulke. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/14 "2021-07-29T13:26:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > When Ron was finished and bent his head down to show the results to the camera, the color difference was so apparent that it looked like he was wearing a hairy black yarmulke. A perfect “How many times has this happened to you?” moment! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/15 "2021-07-29T13:45:15Z")
They’re going to [put his head in a jar](http://theinfosphere.org/Ron_Popeil%27s_head), aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/16 "2021-07-29T14:26:25Z")
[SUPPLY IS LIMITED?!!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WH-r0Tb7tI&ab_channel=okidokivideos) ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/17 "2021-07-29T14:28:30Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > > [@SwissMan](#): > > > > The funeral will include the casting of 21 pocket fishermen lures. > > And the PA system used by the eulogist will consist of a Mr. Microphone broadcasting through an FM radio. And the text of that eulogy will be this, “ Hey good lookin, we’ll be back to pick you up later!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/18 "2021-07-29T15:03:35Z")
Which of his products were legit great and which were the worst? That spray hair stuff could not have been a product anyone would use for years, right? But that pocket fisherman always looked neat. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/19 "2021-07-29T15:12:51Z")
I wonder if the family got a good deal on the funeral, until you included costs for “shipping and handling”. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567/20 "2021-07-29T15:15:56Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Which of his products were legit great and which were the worst? Of the ones I’ve owned or used: The Chop-O-Matic is garbage. Not a terrible idea, but in practice, just doesn’t work (this sentence would probably apply to a majority of his products). Dial-O-Matic: it’s just a mandolin, and not a particularly good one. Six Star 20-Piece Cutlery Set: cheap, stamped serrated knives. Way more knives than anyone really needs, and you can buy a single quality knife that would replace the entire block for not much more than this set costs. Inside-The-Shell Egg Scrambler: it works, but why? Solid Flavor Injector: packaged with the Showtime Rotisserie. Actually a pretty good idea and it works exactly as advertised. Again, cheap plastic and breaks easily, but probably legit one of his top 3 inventions. Electric Food Dehydrator: it worked, but quality was questionable and there are better ones available for a similar price. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-wait-theres-more-or-not-ron-popeil-has-died/947567.md?page=2)