As Seen On TV

[quote]For example, the internal antenna. Yeah, 20 bucks for a sticker. I bet that doesn't work.<hr></blockquote>

A friend of a friend is a reporter for a local tv station, he does a segment every week called "Can You Believe It?" He buys crap off the internet that he sees on tv commercials/infomercials, and then tries it out. A few weeks ago he did the internal antenna, and had two identical phones on the same service, one with the "antenna," and one without. Everywhere he went, they were exactly the same. It still cut out like crazy inside big stores or in tunnels.

[ 12-26-2001: Message edited by: poor taylor ]</p>

<a href="http://www.asseenontv.com/" target="_blank">http://www.asseenontv.com/</a>

That "Tornado" thing for car intake/carbs looks kinda cool.

The principle makes sense. Kinda expensive though.

Whenevery I see that stuff on TV I always think, "geez why didn't I think of that".

Whether the crap works or not, the person selling it is bound to be making a good chunk of change of selling a gimmick.

These people even have little booths in the mall now where they sell the "as seen on TV' products that "aren't available in stores". Got the clothes steamer thing there last christmas but it was missing a part. Never got to try it out. \

The entertainment value on most of those things surpasses most network sitcoms.

Some of them are like train wrecks in that you can't NOT look at them because they're so devastating, tragic and loud.



Yes, they DO have those little production "techniques", don't they? The "bad way = B&W with a fat guy" and the "good way in blazing color with a sexy little monkey of a housewife".

I like watching the one for Nad's hair removal system because this woman from Down Under has some SERIOUSLY fine daughters on there that help her demonstrate. This trio of black-haired, smooth-legged vixens beats the living hell out of any Drew Carey episode ever produced, I'll say that right now!

But yeah...you KNOW this crap doesn't work. It can't. Everytime I see one of those "wear this magnetic reverse polarity baseball cap and lose up to 15 pounds a day!!!" things, I always go "motherfücker, PUT DOWN the Ding-Dongs and the pork rinds and you might find those 15 pounds go away on their own!"



There's an entire industry out there devoted to the whole idea that "eating right and excercising" can't POSSIBLY be the only true, guaranteed way to lose weight.

"EAT, EAT, EAT your way to a thin body! Our new weight loss formula GUARANTEES you that the more you eat, the less you'll weigh! Listen to what these satisfied customers had to say: 'I done lost 38 pounds in 3 days...I've never looked better!", 'I haven't seen my penis in 14 years, but thanks to Slim-X, I can gaze upon my manhood in a way I haven't been able to since junior high! Thanks Slim-X', 'I went from being hugely overweight and quite grotesque to only mildly obese and not nearly as frightening to small children and cats...I couldn't have done without ya, Slim-X!'

YES, those and many others are walking success stories. BUT WAIT...THAT'S NOT ALL. Call within the next SEVEN MINUTES and you'll get the free pocket pud-puller. Regularly priced at $217, it's yours for FREE. Even if you return the Slim-X, keep the Pocket Pud-Puller as our free gift to you!"

"Call now at 1-800-455-2222. That's 1-800-455-2222. That number again, 1-800-455-2222. Call today, operators are standing by at 1-800-455-2222. OR send check or money order to:

Harper Bullshit Marketing, Inc.
Box 55218
Lake City, FL 33951

Allow 3-41 weeks for delivery!"

Anyone ever seen those Systemax ones? I just love watching those!

"Not only do you get the Athlon XP, but you got the Lexmark printer and scanner! We're practically giving this stuff away folks!"

[quote]Originally posted by seb:
<strong>That "Tornado" thing for car intake/carbs looks kinda cool.

The principle makes sense. Kinda expensive though.
\</strong><hr></blockquote>

I saw that on TV the other day. It is intriguing. But I asked myself, if it's such a great device, and really works, why don't all car makers employ it as a standard feature? It's not rocket science. The concept is simple, so it's no amazing technological breakthrough. But I'd still like to know if it really works, or is just hype.

[quote]Originally posted by TigerWoods99:
<strong>Anyone ever seen those Systemax ones? I just love watching those!

"Not only do you get the Athlon XP, but you got the Lexmark printer and scanner! We're practically giving this stuff away folks!"</strong><hr></blockquote>

I love those. "We shopped around and got you the best price possible. Regularly $2299 but yours today for only $1799. It's great. It will change you family's life. You are investing in your childs future. Built-in 3D GRAPHICS and 128 megs of RAM. This machine is amazing!" Then I go to dell.com and configure the same system for $1199. Those Systemax infomercials are pathetic.

Because I'm a Broadcasting major and know about programming techniques, the reason they do the "call in the next 7 minutes and we'll [fill in the blank)" is two-fold.

1) If they say "call in the next x minutes," then people will be more likely to call and order. If they didn't say that, most viewers would be like "well, I'll write down the number and think about it or do it later" and they never call. Lost sales.

2) The other is a programming strategy: if they limit the time people SHOULD call, then the companies know what time the viewers were watching and what times are more successful than others (late night, early morning, Sunday morning, etc.). Makes for better statistics.

I'd say the worst one of those I saw was a product that looks like a bow without a string. You're supposed to shake it back and forth and get the same workout in a much faster time because it's the same number reps sped up so that your workout lasts like 2 minutes instead of an hour. Please.

The best As seen on TV ads are the 1/2 hour shows late at night, where they endlessly demonstrate a product in front of a huge audience. I also love to hate the ads where they have a guy interview another guy from a firm that has had great success all do to the first company's great marketing. Oh and the electro ads were the Doctor (who got his MD in cuba) guarantees results. Right

I saw a thing on ESPN about that Tiger Woods card. Top grade those things were going for crazy amounts.

Whenever I see those shows, I stop to figure out the, "yes, but" question that they never bring up. For example:

One I saw had that special tube with a paint roller on the end of it. You just load the thing up with paint, and slowly push it out through the front as you roll across the wall.

I then thought to myself, "yes, but how do you clean it? There's no way to open it up. You'd have to run an assload of water (or even worse, terpentine) through it to get it totally clean."

Every one of those has a "yes, but" that they never tell you about.

We have the Food Saver and it's not bad at all. In fact it's rather good. It does just what they say it does and well too. My wife loves it.

Shoot, why couldn't this thread have come along sooner. I just ordered about a week ago the AirCore cooking set. Looks really good. Heat it up and it bakes the food without having to stay on the heat. Sounds like a good way to bake stuff and save on electric bills (ours just went up 30+% :eek: ) . So anyhow I figure buy it and if I don't like it they will get it back...

Anyone else bought those or saw the infomercial? Very cheesy, two women talking about how they have no time to get the job done as they have kids in sports and one is convincing the other how well it works. What the heck...Money back gurantee...

[ 12-27-2001: Message edited by: NoahJ ]</p>

[quote] Shoot, why couldn't this thread have come along sooner. I just ordered about a week ago the AirCore cooking set. Looks really good. Heat it up and it bakes the food without having to stay on the heat. Sounds like a good way to bake stuff and save on electric bills (ours just went up 30+% :eek . So anyhow I figure buy it and if I don't like it they will get it back... <hr></blockquote>
My wife and I were watching that one the other night and were just rolling, funniest infomercial I've seen in a while. Interesting concept though.

there's a "As Seen on TV" store at a local mall here in southern california... at the block in orange, CA. it's pretty decent size, and gets lots of walk thru traffic.

sounds like you'd have a field day in there...

I once bought a psychic friend....that didn't work either. When Cleo ask me for my name and credit card number I say "I don' know you tell me"...aparently she wasn't psychic enough

Anyone seen that guy that screams about the "tiny little adds in news papers ALLLL accross the nation" that will make you millions. What I wonder is why is he trying to sell his information on how to get rich if it worked so great for him.
By the way Ralph Nader did a report on this exoping tons of people and companies as fraud

[ 12-29-2001: Message edited by: someoneelse ]</p>

[quote]Originally posted by someoneelse:
<strong>
By the way Ralph Nader did a report on this exoping tons of people and companies as fraud

[ 12-29-2001: Message edited by: someoneelse ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

Ralph Nader is a crotchety old man and I didn't vote for him for President, but he's f*ing intelligent and honest in a lot of other ways.

I think that we all know that the real question is, why do they never show fat people using the fitness machines?

Update!!! My AirCore arrived and is going back the same day.

Apparently it does not work at all on Ceramic flat top stoves. Oh well, just wish they would have mentioned that in the Ad....

i bought a buckwheat pillow once. that thing kicks ass. i've always had a hard time sleeping, so i'm willing to try anything. that one worked like it was supposed to.

my fiancee also had some of that orange glo stuff. i guess that works amazingly well too. go figure.