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 daytime or late night (usually 2:00am to 6:00am). There are many people who claim to have started the modern infomercial business. 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), repeat basic ideas, and/or employ scientist-like characters or celebrities as guests or hosts in their ad. The book As Seen on TV (Quirk Books) by Lou Harry and Sam Stall 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. Many infomercials have limited time offers and/or claim one can only purchase the wares from television, that slightly pressure the viewers into buying their products. The Ab toner fitness item has had its technical claims questioned on occasion by some disgruntled customers.

Because of the sometimes sensational nature of the ad form and the questionable nature of some products, consumer advocates recommend careful investigation of the infomercial's sponsor, the product being advertised, and the claims being made before making a purchase. At the beginning of an informercial, stations and/or sponsors normally run disclaimers warning that "the following program is a paid advertisement," and that the station does not necessarily support the sponsor's claims. (See External Links for two such examples.) A few stations take the warning further, encouraging viewers to contact their local Better Business Bureau or state or local consumer protection agency to report any questionable products or claims that air on such infomercials.

History

Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eliminated regulations on the commercial content of television established in the 1950s and 1960s. 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.

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. There are also entire networks devoted to just airing informercials all day and night for the sole purpose of cable/satellite providers receiving revenue from the channel operator from any sales for their area, or to fill empty time on local programming channels. CNBC, which airs only one hour of informercials nightly during the business week, airs up to 28 hours of infomercials on Saturdays and Sundays during the time where the network's business news coverage otherwise airs. 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 formerly staples during the more common hours infomercials are broadcast (i.e. the overnight hours). Infomercials are a near-permanent staple of ION Television's daytime and overnight schedules.

The first feature length documentary to chronicle the history of the infomercial was Pitch People (1999 film).

Popular products and personalities

Frequently used themes for infomercials include:

• Cooking utensils, for instance:
• Ron Popeil's inventions, most recently the Showtime Rotisserie
• Chef Tony infomercials, most recently peddling cutting knives and convection ovens
• The Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine by George Foreman
• Weight-loss and fitness products, a particularly common theme.
• Nutritional supplements said to cause rapid weight loss in only a few days. Usually accompanied by a trick guarantee that says "if you don't lose up to 10 pounds..." thus giving the company an "out" if the consumer loses less than 10 pounds.
• Exercise equipment
• Tony Little was a pioneer in this department with his various contraptions.
• Various items entitled the "Ab-(something)," generally simple contraptions
• Bowflex resistance-based home gym.
• Exercise tapes
• Richard Simmons and the Buns of Steel lines were early pioneers of this format.
• The most recent version of this is the Winsor Pilates system by Guthy-Renker, an infomercial hosted by Daisy Fuentes
• Health and beauty products
• Nutritional supplements peddled by people such as Robert Barefoot, Michael Pinkus, and Kevin Trudeau. These supplements are often peddled as natural cures for a number of ailments, with the lack of scientific evidence to back it up being blamed on a government and/or pharmaceutical conspiracy. After questions were raised about the effectiveness of these supplements, Trudeau instead wrote them into a book and now sells the book instead.
• Proactiv Solution, a popular over-the-counter acne treatment made famous through infomercials
• Various makeup and skin treatments, said to make the person look younger. Jane Seymour is among the latest entries into the genre.
• Tooth whiteners. These were particularly popular in the 1990s, when home whitening systems were just hitting the market.
• Electric toothbrushes.
• Orthotics
• Colon Cleaners
• Compilation albums and sets
• A fairly recent addition to the market is the television compilation set, primarily sold by Guthy-Renker. Such shows, which are generally non-syndicated, are usually endorsed by the producers of the original series. Recently advertised programs include The Dean Martin Show, The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special.
• The Time-Life Music Collection, usually selling about 150 hit songs from a particular era on an 8-CD compilation. Themes include Classic Country collections, Malt Shop Memories (a doo-wop collection), Soul Ballads, and various decades. These are usually hosted by a Time Life representative and a famous member of that era or genre (for instance, a soft rock compilation infomercial was recently co-hosted by Air Supply). Several other music compilers have also begun this strategy.
• Cleaning products, such as those sold by Billy Mays including OxiClean and Orange-Clean
• Home improvement items, such as extra-long paint rollers, and the Little Giant Ladder System, the latter currently advertised with an infomercial featuring Richard Karn
• Get rich quick schemes
• Make money through real estate investment
• Don Lapre's classified ad system
• Investment and market schemes and workshops, often plugging spread trades and options as either loss-proof or big money earners.
• Self-help
• Anthony Robbins's motivational tapes
• Lucinda Bassett's Attacking Anxiety and Depression, a depression and anxiety treatment system
• Televangelism - Most religious broadcasters in the United States use some form of brokered infomercial programming.
• Girls Gone Wild videos and other similar media.

Widely Used Pitches

• "But wait!" (after pitching one deal and before pitching another, better deal. For example: "But Wait! Call in now and we'll knock off one payment, and add (product)")
• "For (number) easy payments of (price), (product) can be yours!
• "And if you aren't satisfied, you can try (product) risk free for (number) days"
• "If you call within the next (number) minutes, you'll also get..."

Additional notes

• Two networks, SPEED Channel and Versus, call their infomercials by the euphemism "Consumer Product Showcase." The origin of the name is an executive decision made by the Bill Daniels family, which owned both channels at the time (then called SpeedVision and Outdoor Life Network, respectively). Today, SPEED is owned by Fox Cable Networks and VS. is controlled by Comcast.
• DirecTV has nine channels that air infomercials at least 12 hours a day - 222, 223, 224, 225, 237, 246, 268, 314, and 315.

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.
• On Arrested Development, George Bluth Sr. ran a flop infomercial in Mexico for an unsafe deep-frier called the Cornballer.
• 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.

See also

• Advertising
• Brokered programming
• Direct response television
• Marketing
• Sponsored film
• Television advertisement

References

External links

• Electronic Retailing Association Trade association for TV, radio and online retailers
• IMSTV.com Infomercial Monitoring Service.
• Response Magazine Magazine covering direct response television.
• Jordan-Whitney Greensheet Weekly reporting of airtimes and infomercials.
• Screenshot examples from WLUK-TV and WACY-TV of a station's infomercial disclaimer.