Category Archives: Marketing

The 5 Secrets to As Seen on TV’s Success

April 17, 2014Advertising, Commercials, Infomercials, Marketing, SnuggieAs Seen On TV, InfomercialsTom O'Commerce

The As Seen on TV industry has long been ripe for parody, but the fact that it pulls down an estimated $400 billion a year from infomercial viewers makes it no laughing matter. It’s one of the most successful retail platforms in modern history. Yahoo’s Daily Ticker recently talked with As Seen on TV stalwart Scott Boilen of Allstar Products Group about the five top secrets that drive the success of an industry that sells you stuff you never thought you needed. Continue reading →

Is Proactiv Better than Cheaper Drugstore Acne Products?

March 16, 2014Beauty, Celebrity Endorsements, Consumer Protection, Infomercials, Marketing, Personal Care, Skin CareAs Seen On TV, Beauty, Commercials, Infomercial, Infomercials, Skin CareTom O'Commerce

What exactly are you paying for?

Proactiv has become the go-to acne treatment for today’s young adults. Guthy Renker, the company that markets Proactiv and Proactiv+, spends $200 million a year to run TV commercials convincing pimply youth that Proactiv is more effective than drugstore products like Clearasil or Stridex. Instead, they’re shelling out big bucks for Proactiv’s three-part “system” that sure seems to work for the acne-free celebs who shill for the product. Continue reading →

‘As Seen on TV’ Search: Lots of Promise, No Winners (Yet)

March 13, 2014Advertising, Commercials, In the News, Infomercials, Marketing, New Products, PitchmenAs Seen On TV, Infomercials, New ProductsTom O'Commerce

Direct-response TV product marketer Top Dog Direct did not pick any winners at last week’s Shark Tank-like pitch-a-thon in Philadelphia. But it did see lots of very creative folks with lots of creative—and often bizarre—product ideas. Such as a bib made for sloppy adults. Continue reading →

Pitchman Kevin Trudeau’s Stuff Headed to Auction

March 6, 2014Books, Consumer Protection, Crime, Health Care, In the News, Kevin Trudeau, Marketing, Weight LossAs Seen On TV, Health, Infomercials, Weight LossTom O'Commerce

infomercial king kevin trudeau — Troubled infomercial king Kevin Trudeau

Disgraced infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau’s personal belongings are to be auctioned off to help pay off a $38 million fine from a civil case related to his current federal case.

Auctioneers estimate the sale will bring in just $100,000. Items include an elaborate chandelier and gilt-framed portraits of Gen. George S. Patton and Winston Churchill, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

In a Facebook post, Trudeau calls the gaudy items from his former California vacation home “priceless,” and that they “have my energy infused in them. They are all like amulets.”

Trudeau had previously claimed he was broke, and was accused by authorities of hiding assets. The cases center on false claims he made while marketing the book The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You To Know About.

DRTV Firm Top Dog Direct Hosts ‘Speed Pitch’

March 6, 2014In the News, Infomercials, Marketing, New Products, Pitchmen, Product TestAs Seen On TV, DRTV, Infomercial, Infomercials, New Product, New Products, Top Dog DirectTom O'Commerce

60 Seconds and . . . Bring It On!

DRTV firm Top Dog Direct invited inventors to pitch the next potential As Seen on TV hit product at its Speed Pitch in Philadelphia. The country’s biggest direct-marketing manufacturer and marketer hosted the event at the Liberty Bell/Independence Mall Visitor Center on Thursday, March 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, as reported by NJ.com. It featured a panel of experts on hand to judge participants’ 60-second pitches. Winners were awarded contracts that could lead to their product being sold on TV. Stay tuned to this blog for a run-down on the winning pitches.

Top Dog Direct is the company behind proven products like Mighty Putty Purple and Night View NV Night Driving Glasses.

Froot Loops: Sugary Rainbow of Lies?

January 24, 2014Advertising, Commercials, Food, MarketingCommercials, HealthTom O'Commerce

froot loops breakfast cereal — Froot Loops: Taste the rainbow of one flavor.

Hang your heads low, American cereal execs. The shame! For decades you have been selling us the sugary rainbow of lies drenched in polyglycerol polyricinoleate acid that generations have known as Froot Loops. Toucan Sam? More like Toucan SCAM!

As The Straight Dope so wisely pointed out back in 1999, Kellogg’s morning-meal mendacity, first launched in 1963, contains just one flavor, despite all the wondrous colors the cardboard container holds beckoningly within.

Yep, those round, gleaming breakfasty gems’ promise of diverse delectability is nothing but a long con perpetuated on unsuspecting Americans whose veins run pure with high-fructose corn syrup, yearning for nothing more than freedom, truth and individual fruit-like flavors.

SciMark Report: A DRTV Weekly Roundup

January 17, 2014Advertising, Beauty, Hair, Infomercials, Marketing, New Products, Personal Care, PetsAs Seen On TV, Beauty, DRTV, Infomercials, New Product, New ProductsTom O'Commerce

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Every week, product prognosticator Jordan Pine of SciMark Corp. posts his predictions for how new products will do in the marketplace.

So how does this seasoned Caesar of direct-response TV products see the latest batch of As Seen on TV contenders?

In his latest Weekly Roundup, Pine gives a thumbs up or thumbs down to five products that you may or may not see on store shelves in the coming months, depending on how they test. Continue reading →

Where’s Billy Mays?*

June 28, 2013Billy Mays, Billy Mays III, Comedy, Marketing, PitchmenSavvy Shopper

It’s been four years since Billy Mays’ death, but his spirit is still with us. Reruns of the South Park episode “Dead Celebrities“, Epic Rap Battles with Benjamin Franklin, his son’s “Where’s Billy Mays?” blog, even a Billy Mays Maize Maze – all bear witness to his sticking power as a meme. He sees more action than some Pitchmen who are still alive. Heck, he even has a yearly holiday – BILLY MAYS MEMORIAL CAPS LOCK DAY.

Continue reading →

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