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All kidding aside, the infomercial business is booming--and the Discovery Channel has noticed. As a result, a new series, "Pitchmen", will debut on Wednesday night to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the famous personalities behind the TV products. Sales is rarely a part of the business school or MBA curriculum but Vince Offer and Billy Mays could easily serve as adjunct professors.
Vince (ShamWow) and Billy (Oxiclean, Bedazzler, Mighty Putty) have achieved celebrity-like status thanks to their over-the-top energy and bizarre products. Their status has grown alongside the infomercial platform. Thanks to ever-expanding platforms and channels for advertising, infomercials have moved away from their traditional 4 A.M. time slots on attention-starved channels such as Bravo, the Outdoor Channel, or the Hallmark Channel.
New 90-second spots for the Snuggie (comes with free booklight) and the Awesome Auger (free power drill) now hold viewers' attention midday on ESPNNEWS and other mid-level cable networks. Cable and satellite TV networks seem to understand the long tail of demand---but forgot about its implications on advertising capacity utilization.
The industry, meanwhile, is laughing all the way to the bank. Starting with Orange Glo, OxiClean, and Kaboom, an incomplete Wikipedia article suggests Mays has marketed well over fifty products. Even without a recognizable pitchman, the Snuggie has now sold over four million units in less than one year. Infomercials have led the way but many more industries may soon make the shift to long-form advertisements thanks to greater availability and decreased price.
For a fun look at a few classics check out the videos above-and also the product competition mash-up video below:
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