I spent the weekend at Sank’s cabin with my employees for a team building, ice fishing weekend. It was during this event that we spent quite a bit of time eating (Sank makes some mean Bambi meatballs!), drinking, and watching campy crap on TV such as Svengoolie. It was during a replay of The Wolfman that we saw a commercial for “The Pocket Hose” which, when your mind is in the gutter, is absolutely hilarious.
However hilarious, I had to wonder whether anyone has ever bought anything they saw on TV. While I don’t remember buying anything I’ve seen on TV direct from the informercial, I believe we have ended up with a variety of products over the years which were either bought in brick and mortar stores later or recreations of those sold elsewhere. After watching this particular spot all I ended up doing was laughing, hysterically while making juvenile jokes, not buying.
So what about you? Have you ever bought anything from TV informercials directly? What about after the fact? What is your favorite “As Seen on TV” item? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and vote on the sidebar and the comment on below as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
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February 3rd, 2013 at 10:44 am
I bought the Pocket Hose, but it was confiscated by police in the Eagan Burger King parking lot.
February 3rd, 2013 at 11:15 am
Whoever thumbs downed NW Rochester guy is an idiot. That was a good one.
February 3rd, 2013 at 12:50 pm
I don’t know about NW Rochester Guy, but I came factory equipped with a “pocket hose”. No purchase necessary.
I swear, other than for a few ocd types, it seems age causes folks to think buying stuff off the t.v. is a good idea. I.e. I recently learned my mom actually enjoys watching QVC.
Sometime in the last few years there was a show on TLC or discovery where they followed some of the behind the scenes stuff related to TV infomercial advertising. With the key being they simply do not advertise stuff that a large number of people won’t buy. Shocking that it is, if you see an add for it, they’re gonna make money off of it.
Off the top of my head, we’ve got a george foreman grill, and we purchased those little discs to make it easier to move furniture around. All purchased at local stores.
February 3rd, 2013 at 2:19 pm
I bought the Little Giant Ladder… I needed an extension ladder and my normal A-Frame ladder is old and scary – so I decided to get one that can do both. I love it (when it gets used). But, I will say, it’s not nearly as easy to use as the infomercial would have you to believe… I’m sure everyone is shocked by that.
I’m not sure what other TV type things I have.. probably more than I realize. I tend to buy lots of things I see on the DIY network from shows such as Cool Tools (I have a Nest thermostat, some kickass saw horses, etc.), so to stop those purchases I’ve limited my viewing of the DIY network as a whole. :-)
February 3rd, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Just a guess…no female employees?
February 3rd, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Thanks Lefty.
I am guessing the thumbs down came from a former Dart employee.
February 3rd, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Magic Bullet. I use it daily. ;)
February 3rd, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Hey “dunghead”, you are the idiot’s idiot. Personally, the slap chop is the greatest product that made itself to the tv informercial…….On my second one.
February 4th, 2013 at 11:28 am
I haven’t bought from an infomercial directly, but I voted yes because my Grandma bought us all Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman rods one year for Christmas. It looked like an electric kitchen carving knife and acted as a rod and reel all in one (for those of you too young to remember those commercials).
February 5th, 2013 at 11:10 am
Ron Popeil, king of early infomercials…makes me feel old that I remember him.
February 5th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
My wife bought a workout DVD and exercise ball for something like $25 when we first got married. I told her she’d never use it. She bought it anyway.
She never uses it.
February 5th, 2013 at 5:00 pm
I bought one of those Genie Bras that I saw advertised one late night…I think I picked it up at Bed Bath and Beyond shortly after I saw the infomercial. It didn’t make me look like one of their models. That must have been in the small print that I couldn’t see without my glasses on. :-) Crap – waste of $14.95 or some similar amount. My dad has one of those green ceramic frying pans I’ve seen advertised occasionally late night. Actually works pretty good! I always think about the pocket fisherman too when I think of infomercials. Perhaps they should package the pocket hose and the pocket fisherman together–one incredible value–just pay seperate shipping and handling costs.
February 6th, 2013 at 7:15 am
I tried to buy 3 bottles of Sonoran Bloom Nopalea that Cheryl Tiegs was shilling for in an infomercial to help with weight loss (even though it’s for joint pain) when I was just out of my 6 day medically induced coma last summer, I think it was $139.00 for 3 bottles. However I was thwarted because I had no credit card on me at the time.
This might have been related to the fact that I was on 4x the standard dosage of Percocet due to a pharmacy miscalculation of what a standard dosage for my size and weight should have been. Throw in a Fentanyl patch and Dilaudid on top of that and you MIGHT just start to go off in weird tangents. After they corrected the dosage (and cut down on the other pain meds) my enthusiasm for this product diminished as well as any respect I might have had for Cheryl Tiegs.
Other than that I did buy some “Sham-Wows” locally and they did live up to their claims (plus it was cheaper than the online price).
February 7th, 2013 at 11:41 am
Lefty will be giving on-site instructions of how to use your new shake weight that you purchase in the burger king parking lot this week…
February 7th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
Sign me up!
February 7th, 2013 at 1:02 pm
Actually I work for the FBI.
The Female (Genie) Bra Inspector
February 11th, 2013 at 9:05 am
I always wondered what happened to Inspector 21. Guess you upgraded from men’s underwear – a promotion of sorts?