Ever bought an infomercial product that just completely sucked? Didn’t work at all? Maybe it injured you like the fictional “Cornballer” from Arrested Development? If so, we’d love to hear about it. No, we’re not lawyers looking to represent you. As we’ve mentioned previously, Consumerist is working with ABCNews on a project about infomercials. [More]
Thousands Of Fake Shake Weights Seized
By January 4, 2011
On Monday, U.S. Customs in Savannah, Georgia intercepted a shipment of 1,783 pieces of counterfeit exercise gear imported from China. The 764 cartons included Shake Weights, Body by Jake, and Total Core. The gear sported counterfeit logos. So not only would you get the normal benefits of a fake exercise product, the fake exercise products themselves were also fake. [More]
The Tush Turner Is Perhaps The Stupidest Infomercial Product Ever
By December 29, 2010
You need no better sign that The Empire is on the wane then the “Tush Turner,” a swiveling seat cushion that makes it easier to get in and out of your car without all that “contorting.” Just sit your ass down and spin in and out. And maybe with the few extra seconds it gives you you’ll be able to escape the Visigoths hunting you down as fuel for their war machines. [More]
Welcome To Infomercial Hell
By December 28, 2010
“Infomercial Hell” is a mashup of 90 different horrible infomercial moments into one 5-minute masterpiece. [More]
Sunny Seat Is A Suction Cup Cat Seat That Sticks To Windows
By December 15, 2010
The Sunny Seat is a cat seat that sticks to windows with suction cups so you can create a horizontal raised surface for your feline without even having to know how to use a power drill. [More]
Is Mighty Putty Worth The Mighty Price?
By October 28, 2010
A few weeks ago, we asked you which infomercial items you would love to see put to the test, and in the comments and e-mails, a number of you mentioned Mighty Putty, the epoxy adhesive hawked by the late Billy Mays. But then we looked through the archive over at sister site ConsumerReports.org and found they’d already put the putty through the paces. [More]
Which Infomercial Items Would You Like To See Us Investigate?
By September 24, 2010
We all know that it’s best to take the claims of any infomercial — or really, any commercial at all — with a grain of salt so large it would turn Lake Michigan brackish. And yet, there appears to be no end to the stream of products being hawked late at night by loud (and often Australian) pitchmen. [More]
Cami Secret Is A Fake Camisole You Attach To Your Bra
By August 30, 2010
To others, the “Cami Secret” appears to be a camisole, but it’s actually a hankie you attach to your bra. [More]
Fear The "Snazzy Napper"
By August 25, 2010
Move over Snuggie, and meet the Snazzy Napper, a pocketed bib that attaches to an eye-mask. Or, get the extra large version and you have a blanket too. Snazzy Napper’s patented technology prevents you from seeing the other people around you staring at you in disbelief. [More]
Video Professor Gives Employees Free Trial Offer Of Unpaid Furlough
By May 3, 2010
Have we learned all we can from Video Professor’s free training discs? (Well, free for 7 days, then $30 every month.) Or did the professor blow all his cash on legal fees in order to bully critics and attack competitors, as techdirt suggests? Either way, the company called all its employees to a meeting last week and gave them an unpaid summer vacation. [More]
VIDEO: You're Doing It Wrong, A Tribute To As Seen On TV Ads
By April 22, 2010
Whatever you’ve been doing, you’ve been doing it wrong. That’s what infomercials teach us, by showing us failing at simple tasks, and then offering the amazing new product to solve it. Showing it in black and white or monochromatic with a big red X seems to drive the point home for some reason. Never mind that these products are usually substandard and make most of their money on over-inflated shipping charges… you need this now! To this end, here’s a tribute to your failure, a remix, set to “Help!” by The Beatles, of 50 different “before” scenes of consumers grinding, chopping, squirting, chopping and wearing their pants intellectively. Can you name all the infomercial products shown? Give it a shot, then scroll down after the jump for the answers. [More]
Video: Too Weak To Move Your Arms? The Food Lift Feeds You!
By April 9, 2010
We’ve all experienced the the age-old quandary, “I’m hungry, but I’m too weak/lazy to move my arms, whatever shall I do?” Enter the Food Lift! It’s a revolutionary new product that takes the work out of eating! Simply place the food in the trough and then the dynamo-screw lifts the meal through the tube into your mouth, “like a waiter climbing a staircase.” Try one today! [More]
If You Have Difficulty Operating Eggs, Try An EZ Cracker
By March 7, 2010
You know what piece of technology confuses a lot of people? Eggs. At least that’s the impression I get from the existence of the EZ Cracker, a device which cracks and separates eggs for people who are probably too helpless to be allowed near a stove. Oh, and their commercial has–why not–Wendy from the old Snapple commercials. [More]
PajamaJeans Help You Pretend You're Wearing Jeans
By February 18, 2010
Sometimes you need to leave the house, for instance to go to the supermarket or to attend a job interview, and let’s face it: that’s when the Snuggie fails you. Until they make the formal Snuggie, there’s at least PajamaJeans. They’re like sweatpants, but disguised as jeans. Sadly they’re only for the ladies right now, so guys will have to stick to sweatpants when they give up on life. [More]
Consumer Reports Science Shows Magic Jack Is Actually Worthwhile
By January 6, 2010
Consumer Reports didn’t love Vince’s nuts, and their tests found that the Snuggie sheds like a pack of crazed Labrador retrievers. But in their article about informercial products this month, they did find one that their mad science shows actually works, provides good value, and is useful: the Magic Jack. [More]
We Have No Comment About This Exercise Device, Either
By October 25, 2009
Not content with their stranglehold on the creepily suggestive fitness equipment market for women, the people behind the Shake Weight are now marketing the same product…for men.
Consumer Reporter Keeps Buying Things That Catch Fire
By October 23, 2009
The Handy Switch, pitched in infomercials by the zombie late Billy Mays, is theoretically a cool product. It’s a wireless light switch that you can install and plug in anywhere. It would be very useful were it not for its unfortunate tendency to burst into flames.
