But Wait There’s More by Remy Stern
May 25th, 2009Title: But Wait…There’s More!
Author: Remy Stern
Publisher: HarperCollins (2009)
Have any of you bought anything that was on an infomercial? I don’t think I have, though at times I have wanted to. Studies say that 1 in 3 people have purchased a product via infomercial…but certainly everyone is fascinated with the commercials. I can’t look away…they are hilarious (and at the same time I see a lot of stuff that I NEED!!!). Infact, my wife and I love infomercials so much that we named our dog ShamWow! (yes, with the exclamation point)(and yes, I am aware of the legal troubles of the inventory of the ShamWow!…I named the dog before any of that). I’ve always been interested in what goes on behind the scenes in this industry, and now, thanks to this book, I know!
But Wait…There’s More!: Tighten Your Abs, Make Millions, and Learn How the $100 Billion Infomercial Industry Sold Us Everything But the Kitchen Sink by Remy Stern is a fun, interesting look at the infomercial industry. It also gets the award for longest subtitle that I have reviewed so far. Though the purveyors of infomercials would probably disagree, I feel like Stern was pretty fair in his analysis of the industry. Obviously there is a fair amount of discussion about the get-rich-quick schemes and the slimier people in the industry, but he also goes out of his way to say that there are a number of people, and products, that are perfectly legitimate. His first bio in the book is on the King of infomercials: Ron Popeil.
Ron Popeil is amazingly famous for the products that his company, Ronco, has produced and sold on infomercials. One of his most famous product is the Ronco Automatic Pasta Maker (see part 1 of the awesome infomercial at the end of this post!). It looks so easy to use…and probably does work out just fine. But the fascinating thing about this video, and the others, is the salesmanship. The book talks a lot about how tested their pitches are, which certainly makes a lot of sense. In my opinion, we all KNOW we are being pitched something that we don’t really need…but we can’t help ourselves. That is one of the reasons a lot of these show late at night…we aren’t thinking straight…so we buy automatic pasta makers and waterless car cleaning kits.
Stern also lays into the get rich quick companies. Obviously, buying into a real estate program through a TV show is a dumb idea. But they are marketing exactly what people are wanting: easy money…and fast. Stern signed up for one of the seminars (undercover of course) and was appalled at the extremely high level of pressure that is placed on people to buy into more seminars. He said he was cursed and and insulted when he tried to leave without buying anything. Basically they are all total creeps and have no emotions other than selfishness.
My main complaint with this book is that he spent VERY little time talking about Billy Mays, who is my generation’s King Pitchman. Mays (along with Anthony Sullivan) is the star of Discovery Channel’s Pitchmen…a funny show that theoretically gives a background of the industry. While I don’t actually believe the show is accurate (I mean, they are pitchmen…they know how to manipulate their viewers!), Billy Mays is a pretty big name. I was just surprised that there was very little mention in this book. But that is really my only complaint about this excellently written book.
I would recommend this to pretty much everyone…it’s not too business focused, and has a lot of humor in it. I think everyone would enjoy it!
Rating: 4 out of 5
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May 26th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I bought one thing one time on TV that I can remember but it wasn’t an infomercial…it was a product being sold through a telethon…but it’s the same principle. I bought a product called “Miracle Clean” or some such and I still have half a pail of it left and still use it (sometimes). I can’t think of anythng else at this point.
May 31st, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Wow that sounds fascinating honestly. I’m always curious to hear the “real story” about things that are hyped up on television. I have never bought anything from an infomercial, but I’ve definitely found them tempting.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:05 am
[...] I reviewed But Wait, There’s More! by Remy Stern. It was a really good read about the history of the the infomercial industry. Remy [...]