ShamWow Commercial A Scam? Wow!
What's up with this deceptive edit in the ShamWow commercial?
Watch this clip. First Vince pours cola on the carpet square. You see the cola pooling underneath. He lifts up the square to show all the soda. Then there's a cut as he puts the square back down and you can see all the soda underneath is gone. He rolls the ShamWow over the square and wrenches the waterfall of cola out into the bowl. Best of all, Vince starts off this part by saying, "We're going to do this in real time!"
It's strange why they would resort to this editing trick because according to the comments I've read on Consumerist and elsewhere, the ShamWow works. Maybe though just not with drying up a whole glass of soda from the carpet.
[via Drivelocity]
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Comments:
The ShamWow does work, I love it.
I want that chopper thing that Vince is hawking now...
it really does work. but dont ever buy them from the company, go to the flea markets and get them 2 for 5 dollars.
Popular Mechanics recently did an article putting the sham wow and other infomercial products to the test.
[www.popularmechanics.com]
Pretty interesting
It's a Sham! Wow!!!
I caught that one the first time I saw the commercial... Pretty sad when they have to resort to deceptive advertising to sell a cheap product..
I'm sure most of those infomercials are using the same kind of techniques to sell you something that just does not work like it is advertised...
Why the FCC is not overseeing these kind of things is beyond me...
It's deceptive, but does it REALLY qualify as a scam? Apparently the ShamWow really does have some impressive soaking powers, but maybe they felt they needed the extra emphasis to get people to buy something off an infomercial.
It's wrong, but I guess "scam" is such a loaded word that it implies the thing doesn't do anything near to what's being advertised.
Sorry - that is only for one - there are more on their site and I think the whole article was in ..... February? maybe.
Anyone who buys infomercial crap like this deserves what they get.
I kept missing that edit until my fiancee pointed it out to me.
On a side note, I like how in his new commercial for the chopper, Vince again tells us that they can't make that deal all day. Oh Vince, you crafty rascal.
@aguacarbonica: That's exactly what is being implied. The sham does not lift that much soda off carpet AND the underlaying surface, leaving both completely dry and lacking any moisture to it. Hence, scamwow.
I'm not seeing it. Are we talking about the cut at 5 seconds?
I noticed this like a month ago, but hasn't this commercial for the scamwow been around for years?
@savdavid: Dude, chill the hell out. It does actually work. They might overstate it a bit on the commercial, but it works very well.
Yeah, a lot of people already have been talking about this, and Vince actually did an interview with CNBC about the commercial, and they did talk about this.
Darren: Lot of people say you used a different carpet for the cola experiment. Did you?
Vince: We poured too much cola on it the first time and it looked messy, but that's the same carpet. And when I say "real time" that is really picking up the cola from the carpet.
I can see how he could be being honest about this, but you have to wonder why they couldn't just grab another piece of carpet and start over...
Did you know apparently HE made the ShamWOW himself? Did you know the original name for this was Sham It Up? I'd recommend viewing the entire interview; it's quite interesting.
[www.cnbc.com]
I read an interview with Vince (who's also the company's owner and not just a paid actor) that the reason for the cut was that they thought the first shot was too messy. Why they didn't just go with a cleaner shot all the way through I have no idea. Shouldn've know people would pick up on the difference. Commercial was shot over several weekends.
@Jubilance22: Yeah, the chopper looks great. I wonder how it will stand up to the pounding over time.
it's better than the us automaker commercials, now those are the true scams, and you people keep falling for them.
Dont you people know that Vince is selling Shamwows to fight Scientology?!
Also, you are going to love his nuts.
Also, isn't "Sham" already a synonym for "scam"? HA!
There's also a cut when he covers his mouth with the ShamWow! You can hear a voiceover cut in.
@aguacarbonica: I'll bet money it doesn't lift soda from underneath a carpet if you just roll it over the top as lightly as he does. Do you see how dry it is under?
@janetcarol:
Here is the link to the full list of Popular Mechanics' as-seen-on-tv articles:
[www.popularmechanics.com]
It took people that long to notice the cut/edit?
How else was he able to suck up that amount of soda that already puddled up beyond the borders of the carpet?
Capillary action?
@Barry White Stripes, Office LW: Did you also see his movie? You may remember it from the commercials that used to air on channels like Spike at all hours of the day. It's called the "Underground Comedy Movie" and features scenes like Vince as "The Bat Man" taking an old ladies head off.
@IHateYourKids: Even Popeil does re-dubs though. Watch a Showtime Oven commercial. You can hear the voice changed tone.
They are selling Shamwows at BJs now for 30 bucks. The temptation was really hard to resist yesterday. I guess their absorbency is so powerful they come with a tractor beam pulling you toward them.
Thank you Consumerist. I thought you were going to go with the line people give that from after he says "real time, that they did cuts there. Some say the counter under the carpet is bone dry when he lifts it, which shows that it's fake, but if you watch, you can see it's still kind of wet. I guess these are the same people who pick apart footage of the Trade Centers and say one cloud they interpret as Satan shows that the Government did it b/c they are AKA "The Great Satan".
And here's a little something for Sham-Wow fans. NSFW(language):
@silver-bolt:
I've seen this done at places where they sell these and it does really soak up the soda, although it is not completely dry underneath. They invite you to run your fingers over the table to see how dry. There is still moisture, but not a puddle. What bothers me is that they use a very thin cheap piece of carpet with no pad. Generally you woild have a carpet pad and thicker carpet. That might not clean up as well.
@Jubilance22: Look at this, don't like chopping onions? {pulls onions off table} They make you cry, they make me cry, look how easy it is to chop onions, no tears.
Need to make a salad {grabs more things off the table}? Salads are good for you. Everyone should eat more salads and they can with the slap chop.
Now, you're going to love my nuts... {reaches under the table}
...
To the relief of everyone he actually produces a bowl of nuts. Why weren't the nuts on the table like everything else? Because I think the people that produce these things try to have a sense of humor.
@OscarWinner_GitEmSteveDave: Of course its wet. They stuck the wet carpet back on top of it. The problem is that there was a pool of soda half the size of the carpet beyond the carpet, that magically disappears after they cut the video.
@aguacarbonica: Its only a scam because he says, "We're going to do this in real time" but then there's an edit.
@Chris Stone: CNBC's Infomercial Bracket named this the champion... they then tested in studio (The fill a bowl with soda and watch it soak up the whole thing) and it actually worked... I'd buy one if "Infomercial" shipping rates weren't in effect
@savdavid: So let me get this straight...You believe that it's it's okay for an advertiser to say whatever they want, because the consumer should just know better? Where is the line for that? Is it okay for Coca-Cola to now start claiming that diet coke cures cancer because we should know better?
I bought some of these for my parents at Target for twenty bucks. They really like them for kitchen spills and so forth. I don't think I would ever order them online or on the phone, though, as I wouldn't want to give them my credit card info. You can probably find them in the As Seen On TV aisle in Walgreens as well.
Why does he always wear the headset? Could the production crew not afford a microphone?
There are obviously cuts in this video, its not a conspiracy. (seriously how much time do you have on your hands?)
I will not buy the product on the deceptive marketing alone, great product or not.
I have a shamwow and it does not suck up liquid off a carpet like they say or show. It works no better than a normal shammy. Its def not worth $20
why dont they just make a shamwow snuggie so i never have to leave my couch again even for restroom breaks.