Companies like Allstar Marketing, Ideavillage Products, and Ontel Products aren’t household names, but you probably recognize the names of their signature products: they’re the companies behind the Snuggie, Copper Fit compression apparel, and Veggetti spiral slicers. These three makers of as-seen-on-TV doodads have sued Amazon, claiming the e-commerce giant allows vendors to sell counterfeit versions of their products — and that those counterfeit items can be found in Amazon’s own warehouses. [More]
as seen on TV
Companies Behind Genie Bra, Ab Coaster & Wonderhanger Settle Allegations Of Misleading “Buy One, Get One” Deals
By 7.20.16
Two marketing companies that sell a slew of products familiar to anyone who has ever been depressed enough to watch non-DVR’d basic cable at 2 a.m. — like the Genie Bra, Ab Coaster, Wonderhanger, and Total Pillow — have agreed to pay a total of nearly $900,000 to settle allegations that their ads misled shoppers about the real price of the products they were selling. [More]
Marketer Of “As Seen On TV” Products To Pay $550K For Allegedly Forcing Customers To Pay For Stuff They Didn’t Order
By 7.14.15
In 2014, the state of New Jersey accused Telebrands, a company that markets “As Seen on TV” products like the Pocket Hose and Instabulbs, of forcing customers to pay for items they did not want or order. Yesterday, the company agreed to pay more than half a million dollars to settle the lawsuit. [More]
Marketer Of Snuggies, Perfect Brownie Pans, Others Must Pay $8M For Allegedly Deceiving Consumers
By 3.5.15
The marketer of popular “as-seen-on-TV” products such as Snuggies, Magic Mesh door covers and Perfect Brownie Pans must pay $8 million to resolve federal and state charges it deceived consumers with promises of buy-one-get-one-free promotions and then charged exorbitant fees for processing and handling, nearly doubling the cost of the products. [More]
Why You Shouldn’t Get A Reverse Mortgage Just Because Fred Thompson Tells You To
By 11.13.14
Turn on the TV and you’re just about guaranteed to come face-to-face with a celebrity or public figure selling a product or service. While those spokespeople may carry an air of respect and trust with consumers, what happens when the product they so happily lent their voice to turns out to have devastating affects on the consumer? Not much really, but it might be time for that to change. [More]
Company Behind “As Seen On TV” Products Accused Of Forcing Customers To Buy Stuff They Don’t Want
By 8.13.14
Perhaps you’ve had that feeling after a late-night informercial-fueled shopping spree, that, “Why did I buy four mini desk fans in various colors?” buyer’s remorse. While it’s one thing to do that to yourself, officials in New Jersey are accusing the company behind “As Seen On TV” gadgets and gizmo of forcing customers into a buying trap, with no way out other than buying more stuff. [More]
Watching A Lot Of ‘House’ Comes In Handy For Doctors Trying To Solve Real Medical Mystery
By 2.7.14
Remember how they always told you TV rots your brain? Surely they (whoever “they” are, we all have our theories) would be quite shocked to hear that a healthy TV diet helped a bunch of doctors solve a medical mystery and save a patient. All thanks to the show House M.D., starring the inimitable Hugh Laurie. [More]
Does The Lint Lizard Actually Work? Surprisingly, Yes
By 3.22.13
Infomercial products usually claim to solve a problem that you didn’t know you had. This is usually the stuff of jokes, but what if the products actually improved our lives and made us and our homes more safe? Such a thing is possible in the case of the Lint Lizard, a $11 gadget that promises to attach to your vacuum and suck gobs of lint out of the crevices of your dryer. [More]
You Don’t Need The Perfect Tortilla Pan. No One Does.
By 7.25.12
Every time I look at a TV during the last few weeks, I see ads for the Perfect Tortilla, a wavy mold designed to help you make lovely edible bowls out of a regular store-bought tortilla. At home, visiting family, even at a sports bar: the ad is everywhere. What makes it annoying isn’t the spokesman who resembles a bald Billy Mays. It’s that this product is useless, even by the rarified standards of as-seen-on-TV merchandise. [More]
Just How Fake Is HGTV’s House Hunters?
By 6.11.12
Long-running basic cable staple House Hunters (and its various iterations) are the lifeblood of HGTV, which sometimes seems to air nothing but half-hour after half-hour of incredibly picky people looking at three possible places to purchase, one of which seems to always fit the incredibly finicky buyers’ check list. Most of us have known the show is at least partially staged, but now a woman featured on the show pulls back the curtain even more. [More]
So Do Those Headlight Restoration Kits Actually Work?
By 1.31.12
If, like me, you’re a regular watcher of basic cable programming (yay for House marathons on a dreary Sunday!), you’ve probably seen the ads for those kits that promise to restore car headlights that have fogged over or dulled from oxidation. They promise to clear up that haze quickly and cheaply, but do they work? [More]
Happy Hot Dog Man Turns Your Frankfurter Into An Edible Stick Figure
By 6.16.11
Infomercial products are all about solving problems that you didn’t realize you had. Did you know, for example, that the hot dogs you and your family eat are incredibly boring? It’s true. That’s why someone created the Happy Hot Dog Man. For only $10.99, you can create the unholy spawn of a frankfurter and a gingerbread man in your very own home. [More]
The Fuel Doctor FD-47 Is More Of A Fuel-Savings Quack
By 12.8.10
A basic understanding of physics should tell you that the Fuel Doctor–a small device that you plug into the 12-volt power outlet in your car–will not work. The gadget claims that by “conditioning” your car’s electrical systems, it increases power and gas mileage. But…why have none of the major automakers thought of this? Is it all a plot between the car and gas companies… or is the Fuel Doctor just automotive snake oil?
To find out, Consumer Reports plugged the device in to cars set up with sensitive fuel mileage meters, and also tested the vehicles’ power with and without the Fuel Doctor. Their verdict? Well, there are some pretty lights on the Fuel Doctor, so it makes a nice decoration.
Is Mighty Putty Worth The Mighty Price?
By 10.28.10
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 9.24.10
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]
How Closely Does Fast Food Need To Resemble The Ad Photo?
By 8.16.10
I think it’s safe to say that most people have a decent grasp on the distinction between advertising and reality. Most of us know that the cheese on our Whopper isn’t going to perfectly placed like the cheese on TV or that the bacon on our Baconator probably won’t be identical to the crispy, glistening bacon we see on the poster. But at what point does fast food cross the line between “acceptably different” from the picture and “completely unrecognizable”? [More]
Don't Fall For Green Millionaire's 'Free Trial' Offer
By 8.12.10
If you watch enough TV, there’s a good chance you’ve seen ads for The Green Millionaire, which purports to be a free book that will teach you how to take advantage of government programs to do things like “keep your gas tank full for free” and “get big dollars to ‘green’ your home, even if you rent.” But some complain they’re getting more than the free book — they’re getting a pricey magazine subscription they can’t get out of. [More]
Should We Test The Blanket That Keeps Your Farts From Driving Your Spouse Out Of The Room
By 6.7.10
I remember being a kid and having a male relative tell me, “You know you’ve found the right woman when you can fart in bed and she doesn’t leave you.” That may very well be true, but a new product claims that it can save relationships by blocking you or your partner’s passed gas from making its way into the room. [More]
