Infomercials have been around for 20 years
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post
Last year, people sitting at home watching television spent $91 billion on products they saw on infomercials, more than the gross domestic product of New Zealand. They lapped up products that claimed to make them look prettier, get skinnier, cook tastier, grow richer, remember better and love longer.
Like everyone, infomercial customers have needs and desires. Unlike everyone, they act on them. You can find them on the Internet, which, for infomercial patrons, is a megaphone, complaint desk and father confessor.
On www.infomercialscams.com — which, despite the name, also posts plaudits — Denise writes of the AB-DOer exercise bench ($150): "My pastor's wife used it and still uses it. She went from a Size 16-18 to a Size 2. Yes, 2."
Elise, on the other hand, ordered the IGIA Pore Cleanzer ($30): "I have blackheads and I believed the infomercial description of this product. The instructions said that if you have trouble you should use it after a long bath or shower when the pores will be open. I took a very hot bath for one hour and I still didn't suck anything out of my skin."
The infomercial turns 20 this year, an occasion most people probably are as eager to mark as the 30-year anniversary of the invention of the leisure suit. Veg-O-Matic daddy Ron Popeil, often thought of as the father of the infomercial, first bought 60-second TV commercials in the 1950s. But until 1984 the Federal Communications Commission did not allow more than 16 minutes of advertising per hour, with two-minute spots the maximum length.
The restriction was lifted that year, owing to the proliferation of cable stations and industry lobbying, and the 30-minute infomercial was born.
Herbalife nutritional product infomercials appeared on USA Network.
Soon after, Bill Guthy, who owned a cassette-tape copying business, and resort scion Greg Renker started an infomercial studio, Guthy-Renker. They signed former NFL quarterback Fran Tarkenton to pitch motivational books.
Their next client was Tony Robbins, whose "Personal Power" motivational books, tapes and seminars became a juggernaut. His infomercials showed him hanging with celebrities and royals, befriending children and piloting his own helicopter. The towering Robbins' mesmerizing positivism proved irresistible to buyers. (Do not look directly at him!)
Today, infomercials amount to a $256-billion-per-year industry (including its business-to-business component), according to the Electronic Retailing Association, the trade group of companies that sell via radio, television and the Internet. Of that figure, the association estimates that last year, consumers spent $91 billion on products advertised on 30-minute infomercials and 30- and 60-second ads that included a call to action.
Example: A 30-second ad for the Bowflex home gym is considered in the same category as a 30-minute Bowflex infomercial, because both include a phone number and a command to buy. This differs from a standard TV commercial, such as for a Chevy truck, that is just intended to create brand recognition.
A new sort of infomercial doesn't ask the consumer to buy immediately. Mainstream manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble are buying half-hour promotional slots, hoping you'll remember them in the stores.
But the traditional infomercial format remains the same: The commercials frequently feature a full-volume pitchman, amped up like a candidate for a tranquilizer-gun takedown (Tae Bo's Billy Blanks, Tony Little with the Gazelle exerciser, Billy Mays for OxiClean), hawking an "amazing product" accompanied by an incredulous interviewer (often a former actress).
Recent entrants are infomercials for male-enhancement pills/supplements/pumps and pulleys/etc. The Extenze pill infomercial features a studio audience and legendary porn star Ron "The Hedgehog" Jeremy.
And do they rake in the dough. The infomercial for the Total Gym, which features actor Christie Brinkley and supermodel Chuck Norris (wait, reverse that), sold more than $1 billion worth of Total Gyms in a six-year run, the association said. Guthy-Renker grosses more than $1 billion annually, as do Popeil's inventions.
The infomercial industry is growing at a clip of 10 percent annually, the association said. Each month, 250,000 infomercials air in the United States and Canada, said Sam Catanese, who runs Infomercial Monitoring Service Inc., which tracks infomercials and sells Nielsen-like reports to advertisers.
May 2004 was the busiest month ever for the introduction of new infomercials, he said. Three new infomercials hit the air daily.
Just take a moment to turn that over in your mind. OK, now continue reading.
The industry says that misconceptions about it abound, that the perception of the average customer as an anti-social, insomniac shut-in with impulse-control issues is grossly exaggerated and unfair.
"They're you and me," said Barbara Tulipane, president of the Electronic Retailing Association, the trade group of infomercial makers. "Typically, they're multitaskers. They're not just sitting down, glued to the TV. They're probably making dinner; they've got kids in the room studying, reading, talking."
