Garden Weasel
The Garden Weasel is a garden implement with three sets of rotating tines for loosening soil. It has been sold by the Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company beginning in 1976. It was one of the first products sold in North America using dealer-tagged TV marketing. The first pitchman was Jerry Baker, the well-known gardener. The subsequent pitchman who appeared on camera in the TV ads for this product was Jim Martindale, a longtime announcer and voice talent from Indianapolis, Indiana. Garden Weasel also makes several other products with varying uses:
- Weed Popper, which is designed to remove weeds, crabgrass, dandelions, and other unwanted plants
- Cobra Cord Bag which stores extension cords without tangling them
- Garden Claw, a gardening tool similar to the original Garden Weasel, but designed to break up firmer, uncultivated soil
In Canada, the Garden Claw is advertised in commercials by noted gardener Art Drysdale.
In popular culture
- A tribute song to the Garden Weasel was written by musical comedian Heywood Banks of Michigan, who frequently appears on the Bob & Tom syndicated morning radio program.
- The Garden Weasel played a prominent part on "The Garden Weasel aka What Have You Done For Me Lately", the first aired episode of The Larry Sanders Show starring Gary Shandling. Sanders was required by the network to do live commercials for the product on his talk show, and resisted saying the commercial copy without joking. He was eventually rescued by his sidekick, Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor), who had more experience in doing commercials.
External links