Author Interview: Remy Stern
July 2nd, 2009Recently, 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 agreed to answer some questions I had for him and gave some really great, thoughtful answers. Thanks Remy!
I’ll get this out of the way – my main complaint with your book was that there was very little on Billy Mays. Mays is a pretty big character in the infomercial world right now…why not write a chapter about him? Is he less interesting than it appears?
I’m so sorry I disappointed on the Billy Mays front! It had to do with several factors. First off, there was quite a bit of ground to cover and I had to make some hard decisions about what to include, since I couldn’t squeeze everything in. There were actually a number of pitchmen and products I would have liked to describe in more detail, but wasn’t able to fit into the book in the end.
I probably should also mention that when I started working on the book in 2006, Billy wasn’t quite as big a deal as he is today. Obviously, he was a famous TV personality and the face of OrangeGlo and Oxiclean. But he wasn’t pitching a million products as he is today and his infomercial production company was still getting off the ground. He’d also yet to become the star of a reality TV show, too. But if I were doing the book today, I’m sure I would have devoted much more space to him.
A recent Discovery show “Pitchmen” came out after you wrote the book. What do you think about it? I think it is more fake than real. Any inside information?
I don’t have any “inside” info per se, but I think like any reality TV show, it’s a mix of the real and the not-so-real. [ed. note: Is this true?!?! Abby?] I think Billy’s personality on the show is very much the way he is in real life. And the on-camera interaction between Billy and Sully is very much the way these guys are off-camera. They’re very close and they’re both big jokers, and a lot of the banter is how the two really interact on a daily basis.
I think the overall premise of the show is a bit less realistic. It’s nice to think that if you come up with a great idea, there are lots of folks that will help you market it and will make you rich in the process. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy. AJ Khubani, who’s appeared on the program, has a long history of appropriating ideas from other people, for example, and he’s been sued for it on numerous occasions.
So while it’s possible to come up with a brilliant idea and find someone to champion the product, you’re just as likely to see your idea “borrowed” by someone else. At the end of the day, there are cold, hard realities about the infomercial business that tend to get lost on the show. But I suppose if they were completely straightforward about how the business worked, it might not make for the best TV program.
Why are Americans so fascinated with infomercials? Do people in other countries buy this stuff too – or just Americans?
The infomercials business is definitely a global one. They air just about every place where TV networks exist. (TV networks and capitalism, at least: I’m not sure infomercials air in Cuba and North Korea.) Some of the products are unique to each individual market, so some of shows can be pretty hilarious since they’re designed to appeal to local audiences. But American infomercials air abroad, too. Some are simply dubbed over in local languages. In other cases, new infomercials are created with local hosts and celebrities. Some have both. The Proactiv infomercial in China actually has a few American celebs speaking in Mandarin, for example. They taught Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Love Hewitt how to say a few things specifically for the Chinese language version of the infomercial. You can find a clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDdehyDNeWA
That said, the infomercial’s roots are here in the US and the culture that has been built around them is very much an American phenomenon. So while other countries have active infomercial and home shopping industries, it isn’t quite the pop culture institution that it is here.
What is the ShamWow guy’s story? I assume it is a lot like all the other pitchmen. Do industry people hate him because he got beat up by a hooker – and therefore continuing the terrible association people have with the infomercial industry?
Vince was an actor and filmmaker back in the day, which was around the same time he was a member of the Church of Scientology. And he actually made a movie — his first — back in the late 1990s, which I believe one critic called it the worst comedy he’d ever seen. He later had a falling out with the Church of Scientology and ended up getting into a legal dispute with the church. I’m not entirely sure how we made the decision to focus on infomercials and sell the ShamWow, although I should point out that it isn’t a new product by any means. Those sorts of absorbent towels have been marketed for decades; I remember seeing a demonstration of one when I was a kid. And Billy Mays pitched a similar product a few years ago called Zorbeez. It wasn’t nearly as successful as the ShamWow, though, which is a good example of one of the enduring mysteries in the business. No one is really sure what will sell and what won’t. And two very similar products can come along and one can catch fire while the the other ends up a dud. I imagine the guy who invented the Slanket a few years back wonders about that every time he sees an ad for the Snuggie.
As far as Vince’s run-in with the law, it really hasn’t resulted in any blow back within the industry. Lots of people in the business have shady pasts, so Vince isn’t really unique in that respect. And in the spirit of “all press is good press,” it may have actually helped him by attracting more attention to the ShamWow.
The thing I found most interesting about that saga was that he was arrested in Miami while staying in a $750 a night hotel room. I think that gives a good sense for what a hit infomercial can do to your bank account.
Have you had any negative repercussions from your book? Have AJ Khubani or any of the get-rich-quick guys threatened you yet?
I haven’t heard from AJ. I didn’t expect I would. His approach to criticism, it seems, has always been to ignore it.
The only person who has complained this far — that I know of, at least — is Joe Sugarman, who is most famous for having marketed the BluBlocker sunglasses back in the 1980s. He was upset about a few things, such as references I made to issues he had with the Federal Trade Commission back in the day, and the fact I didn’t give him credit for introducing the 1-800 number to television and had cited Alvin “Al” Eicoff instead. Eicoff’s role in developing the 1-800 number, however, is recounted in numerous articles and books. And the only person who seems to give credit to Joe Sugarman is Joe Sugarman. So there’s not much I can do about that.
I did hear from a number of people within the industry — both people I interviewed and people I didn’t — who had really nice things to say about the book, which was very gratifying. I tried to capture all sides, including the good (such as the savvy marketing tactics and clever inventions) and bad (such as the numerous scams), and balancing both was a challenge.
You did a really nice job, especially considering this was your first book. What do you plan on doing next?
I’m not sure what’s next, actually. I’d love to do another book, but I haven’t decided on a subject just yet. You really have an enormous passion/interest in the subject, since it becomes a major part of your life for a very long period of time. So I need to think long and hard about what I’m prepared to obsess about next.
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July 4th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Nice interview! I haven’t read this book, but it really intrigues me. I don’t watch tons of infomercials, but I find them interesting on a psychological level. How they work, how they convince people to buy and whatnot.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Kim…you will like this book then. Behind the basic storyline is exactly what you are looking for. WHY do people buy this stuff?!? (except OxyClean…which really does work!)
July 12th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
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