Infomercial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program (roughly 28 minutes, 30 seconds). Infomercials, also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe), are normally shown outside of peak hours, such as late at night or early in the morning. Kevin Harrington, owner of Reliant International Media, LLC, created the first ever modern-day infomercial in 1984, selling the Ginsu knife. The word infomercial is a portmanteau of the words "information" and "commercial". As in any other form of advertisement, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely resemble actual television programming, usually talk shows, with minimal acknowledgement that the program is actually an advertisement.
Infomercials are designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable and are, therefore, a form of direct response marketing (not to be confused with direct marketing). The ad response is delivered directly to television viewers by infomercial advertisers through the television ad. In normal commercials, advertisers do not solicit a direct response from viewers, but, instead, brand their product in the market place amongst potential buyers.
Infomercial advertisers may make use of flashy catchphrases (such as "Set it and Forget it" for the Showtime Rotisserie), repeat basic ideas, and/or employ scientist-like characters or celebrities as guests or hosts in their ad. Famous infomercial personalities include: Cher, Lucinda Bassett, George Foreman (with the George Foreman Grill), Daisy Fuentes, Jack Lalanne, Chuck Norris, Tom Vu, Ron Popeil, Billy Mays, Bob Circosta, Tony Little, Tony Robbins, Cheryl Tiegs, and Kevin Trudeau. The book As Seen on TV (Quirk Books) by Lou Harry, Sam Stall and Julia Spalding highlights the history of such memorable products as the Flowbee, the Chia Pet, and Ginsu knives. The Flowbee and Ginsu were put on air by infomercial guru Kevin Harrington.
Because of the sometimes sensational nature of the ad form, consumer advocates recommend careful investigation of the claims made within any infomercial ad and investigation of the company sponsoring the subject product of the infomercial before purchasing the featured product or products. Infomercials are for the largest part shown late night to early morning between 2:00am and 6:00am.
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[edit] History
Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eliminated regulations, which were established in the 1950s and 1960s, on the commercial content of television. Much of their early development can be attributed to business partners Edward Valenti and Barry Beecher, who developed the format to sell the Ginsu Knife.
On occasion infomercials have been used for election campaigns. Most notably was that of Ross Perot, former candidate for President of the United States, when he introduced his 1996 candidacy with running mate, Pat Choate, using an infomercial. Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Harry Browne also used an infomercial in 2000, which was hosted by David Ruprecht, former host of the game show Supermarket Sweep. Lyndon LaRouche was also known for buying time on television networks to run his own campaign infomercials for each of his presidential runs.
Some televangelists such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff buy television time from infomercial brokers representing TV stations around the U.S.A. and even some mass-distributed cable networks that are not averse to carrying religious programming. A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET under the umbrella title BET Inspiration.
Infomercials are often screened in the United States and Canada during late-night/early morning hours, although midday and prime time airings are not unheard of. A comparison of television listings today (2007) with 20 years ago (1987) verifies that many broadcasters in North America now air infomercials in lieu of syndicated TV series reruns and movies, which were formally staples during the more common hours infomercials are broadcast (i.e. the overnight hours).
[edit] Pop Culture
Maxim Online named the Life Alert infomercial, which featured an elderly woman falling and screaming the legendary line "Help! I've fallen…and I can't get up!", the greatest infomercial of all-time. [1]
[edit] Parodies of infomercials
- "The Joe Jefferson Vocabulary Builder Upper" - by radio personalities Bob and Tom, parodies an infomercial for an (evidently unsuccessful) system to improve one's vocabulary.
- The comedian Leo Gallagher is famous for his sendup of infomercials with his signature sledgehammer routine, a presentation of the fruit and vegetable preparation tool called the "Sledge-O-Matic ".
- On television's The Simpsons, faded Hollywood heartthrob Troy McClure regularly appeared on infomercials entitled "I Can't Believe They Invented It!"
- Sketch show MADtv on FOX has featured frequent infomercial parodies from multiple fictitious companies, the most prominent being Spishak, with products that are obviously worthless, dangerous or outright faulty.
- More recently, MADtv has featured a series of advertisements hosted by football commentator John Madden, such as a popcorn popper and feminine hygiene products.
- The HBO sketch comedy program Mr. Show had a pseudo-infomercial featuring an 8-in-1 pan called "The SuperPan".
- Early Saturday Night Live episodes featured spoofs of Ronco advertising for the Super Bass-O-Matic '76 and Super Bat-O-Matic '77 with Dan Aykroyd.
[edit] External links
- Electronic Retailing Association Trade association for tv, radio and online retailers
- IMSTV.com Infomercial Monitoring Service.
