Worst "As Seen On TV" Products

[cochrane]

@Rosvirein

“Weird Al” Yankovic has this subject covered.

Fun fact: Lisa Popeil, the daughter of S.J. Popeil, and Ron Popeil’s half-sister, sang backing vocals on that song.

[jtur88]

My elderly mother sat all Sunday morning one day watching infomercials. I asked her why she watches them. She said she was fed up with changing the channel every time those darn commercials came on, and the infomercials never break for commercials. I could see her point, after all, the exercise bike commercials were no worse than the programs on other stations that had ad breaks in them.

I actually enjoyed the infomercials for the old country music collections, and sat up for two hours once night watching them.

[running_coach]

@cochrane

Fun fact: Lisa Popeil, the daughter of S.J. Popeil, and Ron Popeil’s half-sister, sang backing vocals on that song.

And from here:

After learning that Ron Popeil’s sister Lisa was a singer, Al hired her as a backing vocalist on this track; Lisa has gone on to sing on several of Al’s other songs and even** taught him how to improve his vocal technique.**

[Infovore]

I heard a theory–I have no idea if it’s true or not–that a lot of those “As Seen on TV” products where they show somebody having a comically hard time using the normal alternative before discovering the advertised product are actually aimed at people who are disabled or otherwise have trouble managing some aspect of their lives that these products address. The theory suggests that they show the idiots screwing up using normal products because they get larger advertising reach than they would if they marketed the products directly to the disabled.

Here’s an article about it.

[friedo]

Here are some excellent infomercial product reviews by funny puppets.

Shamwow and SlapChop
Rollie.
I agree with their conclusions.

[Bad_News_Baboon]

@Grrr

Me too. I’m imagining BKB’s final argument with his ex wife: “And I’m taking the Shamwows bitch!!”
(Not saying the ex is really a bitch. Just the dialogue in my head.)

The only way this scenario gets better: he takes a Ginzu and cuts each Shamwow into 30 pieces and keeps 15.

[Beckdawrek]

Whoever is up-thread who wanted a big french fry cutter…its called a veg-a-matic…you can still get them on Amazon I think…they work perfectly…get a stainless one…if you can …will last a lifetime

[Projammer]

@DCnDC

My wife picked up a “Slap Chop” at a yard sale or something for a buck. In theory, actually not the worst idea ever. In practice, a complete disaster.
…
Completely useless.

Oh come on! If there were no Slap Chop there would be no Slap Chop Rap!

[anomalous1]

Morbo What sponges are these, I am definitely interested, tired of the same old boring sponges here
Projammer

I seen that years ago and totally forgot, thanks for bringing me a laugh! I love that thing!

[Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank]

@CalMeacham

The Egg Scrambler wins by being so transparently stupid, but a close second is the Miracle Thaw defroster. This is just a piece of aluminum with no special abilities – despite the ad – to allow your food to evenly defrost. You might as well just put it in a metal pan. But apparently a lot of folks don’t realize that.

Miracle Thaw Defrosting Tray As Seen on TV for sale | eBay

Heh, I love that item, simply because I realized what it was, and how I could emulate it easily. If I want to speed the defrosting of something, I lay the package, cellophane-side down and styrofoam side up, in the middle of my unheated stovetop. Lots of metal there to exchange heat/cold.

One of the most useless items I’ve tried is also one that seems to have a lot of fans. The RonCo Pocket Fisherman. It lacks something basic to the fishing experience: a lever. I about put my arm out of socket trying to cast with it, and I could have done better with a child’s toy rod with cartoon characters on it. Setting a hook has similar issues. I kept as much slack out of it as I could, then when I had a strike, I’d quickly raise my arm over my head and RAN away from the water to set the hook. If it had like a 4-foot telescoping fiberglass rod that came out of it, it might be a dandy little gadget, but a 8"-12" folding plastic rod didn’t cut it.

[hogarth]

DCnDC perfectly expressed my thoughts about the Slap Chop.

[Darren_Garrison]

@Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank

One of the most useless items I’ve tried is also one that seems to have a lot of fans. The RonCo Pocket Fisherman.

For some reason these crossed my mind just a few weeks ago and I googled to see if they were still being made. I remember one of them in my house during my childhood (but I don’t remember if I or anyone else tried to use it in that time.) They have been on the market for 45 years and (I think) have cost $19.95 the whole time. (Which means that it cost the equivalent of over $100 in 1972.)

[Jackmannii]

@Shoeless

The thing that’s funny about so many of these “As Seen On TV” products is how contrived the ads are showing how hard it is to do the thing that these things are the solution to. Like the pasta pot that has the strainer built in, because it’s just so damn difficult to pour a boiling pot of pasta into a colander in your sink.

That’s the one that came to mind.

But do you have any idea of how many Americans scald themselves to death annually attempting to pour spaghetti from the pot into a colander, or die of starvation because they accidentally lose all the food down the sink during the transfer?

[Darren_Garrison]

@Shoeless

The thing that’s funny about so many of these “As Seen On TV” products is how contrived the ads are showing how hard it is to do the thing that these things are the solution to.

Is it ice yet?

[gigi]

@anomalous1

Morbo What sponges are these, I am definitely interested, tired of the same old boring sponges here

QVC sells them as the Scrub Daddy:

Scrub Daddy Set of 6 Pink Flex Texture Sponge Set Sponges - QVC.com

@jtur88

My elderly mother sat all Sunday morning one day watching infomercials. I asked her why she watches them. She said she was fed up with changing the channel every time those darn commercials came on, and the infomercials never break for commercials. I could see her point, after all, the exercise bike commercials were no worse than the programs on other stations that had ad breaks in them.

This is why I change to QVC during breaks or to use up time until the DVR is back to the show. No commercials, because it’s all a commercial! And I do buy things there; I am waiting for the next time they offer the smart phone with years of time and data for $99.

[drewder]

There is a British guy who reviews all the as seen on tv crap. It’s pretty funny usually Infomercialism: Ab Circle Pro - YouTube

Also Alton Brown did a video reviewing useless kitchen gadgets. Alton Brown reviews Amazon's dumbest kitchen gadgets - YouTube

[StGermain]

Ha! For my birthday last month, one of my sisters bought me a MacMagic pasta pot. Now, I have several very good pots, and three colanders. She thought it was just spiffy, and I’m stuck with something I’ll never use.

StG

[Rosvirein]

@Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank

The RonCo Pocket Fisherman. It lacks something basic to the fishing experience: a lever. I about put my arm out of socket trying to cast with it, and I could have done better with a child’s toy rod with cartoon characters on it.

Kid-toy poles are actually cheaper. And work better. And you can buy them for a buck at the ‘Dollar Store’. And they’re disposable. “Here, fishy, fishy, fishy!”

[Reeses_Monkey]

This parody ad for the Snuggie (aka backwards robe) is spot-on. I give you the WTF Blanket!

[Rosvirein]

@Jackmannii

That’s the one that came to mind.

But do you have any idea of how many Americans scald themselves to death annually attempting to pour spaghetti from the pot into a colander, or die of starvation because they accidentally lose all the food down the sink during the transfer?

If it saves JUST ONE CHILD’S LIFE, it’s worth it.