Ron Popeil

Ronald M. Popeil
Born May 3, 1935 (1935-05-03) (age 76)
New York City
Occupation Inventor and infomercial salesman
Known for Ronco
Infomercials
"But wait, there's more!"
Chop-O-Matic

Ronald M. Popeil (born May 3, 1935 in New York City;  /poʊˈpiːl/)[1] is an American inventor and marketing personality, best known for his direct response marketing company Ronco. He is well known for his appearances in infomercials for the Showtime Rotisserie ("Set it, and forget it!") and for using the phrase, "But wait, there's more!" on television as early as the mid-1950s.

Contents

Personal life and career

Popeil learned his trade from his father, Samuel, who was also an inventor and carny salesman of kitchen-related gadgets such as the Chop-O-Matic and the Veg-O-Matic. The Chop-O-Matic retailed for US$3.98 and sold over two million units. The invention of the Chop-O-Matic caused a problem that marked the entrance of Ron Popeil into television. It turned out that the Chop-O-Matic was so efficient at chopping vegetables, that it was impractical for salesmen to carry the vegetables they needed to chop. The solution was to tape the demonstration. Once the demonstration was taped, it was a short step to broadcasting the demonstration as a commercial.

Popeil received the Ig Nobel Prize in Consumer Engineering in 1993. The awards committee described him as the "incessant inventor and perpetual pitchman of late night television"[2] and awarded the prize in recognition of his "redefining the industrial revolution" with his devices.

In August 2005, he sold his company, Ronco, to Fi-Tek VII, a Denver holding company, for US$55 million. He said he plans to continue serving as the spokesman and inventor, but wants to spend more time with his family. As of 2006, he lives in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife, Robin Popeil and two of his five daughters. Ashley Tisdale is his cousin.[3]

Although Popeil often receives credit for having been the first to use this phrase, "But wait, there's more," its origin is attributed to the State Fair JAM Auctioneers. The JAM Auctioneers also were the first to use the phrase, "How much would you pay?" Ed Valenti, founder and seller of the Ginsu knife added the word, "Now" to that phrase in the 1970s. Like the JAM Auctioneers of past, each time that question was asked, another item would be added to the sale, thus enhancing the audience's and potential buyers' perceived value of the purchase.

Inventions

Some of his better-known products, and their original sale pitches, include:

Popular culture

Ron Popeil's success in infomercials, memorable marketing personality, and ubiquity on American television have allowed him and his products to appear in a variety of popular media environments including cameo appearances on television shows such as the X-Files,[5] Futurama[6][7] King of the Hill,[8][9] The Simpsons,[10] Sex and the City[11] and The Daily Show.[12] Parodies of Popeil's infomercials were done on the comedy show Saturday Night Live by Dan Aykroyd[13] and Eddie Murphy[14] and the "Veg-O-Matic" may have provided comedian Gallagher inspiration for the "Sledge-O-Matic" routine since the 1980s. Additionally, the professional wrestling tag team The Midnight Express dubbed their Finishing Move the Veg-O-Matic. In Futurama he is said to have invented the technology to keep heads alive in jars.

Ron was voted by Self Magazine readers as one of the 25 people who have changed the way we eat, drink and think about food.[15]

Popeil has been referenced in the music of Alice Cooper, The Beastie Boys, and "Weird Al" Yankovic, who wrote a parody song entitled "Mr. Popeil" which was a tribute to Ron Popeil's father, Samuel Popeil. Ron Popeil later used this song in some of his infomercials.

In Malcolm Gladwell's book What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Ron Popeil is interviewed and many of his products, most notably the Veg-O-Matic and Showtime Rotisserie, are discussed. The article was first published in The New Yorker in 2000.[16]

Notes

  1. ^ McGeehan, Patrick (December 11, 1994). "Profile: He's Back! The Amazing Human Selling Machine!". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/11/business/profile-he-s-back-the-amazing-human-selling-machine.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-10-07. 
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "Ashley Tisdale Biography". Hollywood.com. http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/1123530/Ashley_Tisdale. Retrieved 2009-06-30. , expand bio on other side of link.
  4. ^ a b Ron Popeil, Biography, aired August 15, 2006
  5. ^ In the episode "Beyond the Sea", Scully is shown sleeping while Ron Popeil touts the wonders of his Spray-On Hair (Great Looking Hair Formula #9) for only $39.92. The ad continues for a few seconds, displaying the product's fabulous abilities before shifting to show Scully awakening to the ghost of her recently deceased father.
  6. ^ In the episode "A Big Piece of Garbage", from the television series Popeil is said to be the inventor of technology that allows heads to be kept alive in jars indefinitely (Popeil's own head, voiced by himself, appears in the episode).
  7. ^ In the episode "The Luck of the Fryrish" Fry keeps his lucky seven-leaf-clover in a "Ronco Record Vault".
  8. ^ In the episode "Won’t You Pimai Neighbor?", Dale Gribble states that if Bobby Hill incorrectly chooses from among the items possibly owned by the late Lama Sanglung, Bobby Hill will win a cap snaffler and that the cap snaffler, "Snaffles caps of any size jug, bottle or jar...and it really really works.".
  9. ^ In the episode "The Perils of Polling" Dale Gribble asks if Hank got him a cap snaffler while Hank and Dale are being escorted to the polling place by the police.
  10. ^ In the episode entitled "Radio Bart", Bart Simpson receives a "Superstar Celebrity Microphone" for his birthday. The toy and the TV advertisements for it were modeled after Ronco's "Mr. Microphone".
  11. ^ Season 4 Episode 13 where the character Miranda is seen watching a Ron Popeil infomercial
  12. ^ The famous line "Set it and forget it!", from the Showtime Rotisserie commercial, was used after showing the "catch phrase" discussions of the Senate debating over the War in Iraq.
  13. ^ The "Veg-O-Matic" was parodied by in an episode of as the "Super Bass-O-Matic '76". This parody is mentioned in the Biography episode on Popeil.
  14. ^ (September 25, 1982) Saturday Night Live commercial for the "Popeil Galactic Prophylactic".
  15. ^ "http://www.ronco.com/index.aspx". 
  16. ^ Malcolm Gladwell, "The Pitchman"

Further reading

External links