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Infomercial

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Infomercials are television commercials that run as long as a typical television program (roughly thirty minutes or an hour). Infomercials, also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe), are normally shown outside of peak hours, such as late at night or early in the morning. The word infomercial is a portmanteau which is formed by combining the words "information" and "commercial". As in any other form of advertisement, the content is a commercial message designed to represent the viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor. Infomercials are often made to closely resemble actual television programming, usually talk shows, with minimal acknowledgement that the program is actually an advertisement.

Infomercials are designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable and are, therefore, a form of direct response marketing (not to be confused with direct marketing). The ad response is delivered directly to television viewers by infomercial advertisers through the television ad. In normal commercials, advertisers do not solicit a direct response from viewers, but, instead, brand their product in the market place amongst potential buyers.

Infomercial advertisers may make use of flashy catchphrases (such as "Set it and Forget it"), repeat basic ideas, and/or may employ scientist-like characters or celebrities as guests or hosts in their ad. Famous infomercial personalities include: Cher, George Foreman (with the George Foreman Grill), Ron Popeil, Chuck Norris, Jack Lalanne, Cheryl Tiegs, Daisy Fuentes and Tony Robbins. The book As Seen on TV (Quirk Books) by Lou Harry, Sam Stall and Julia Spalding highlights the history of such memorable products as the Flowbee, the Chia Pet, and Ginsu knives.

Because of the sometimes sensational nature of the ad form, consumer advocates recommend careful investigation of the claims made within any infomercial ad and investigation of the company sponsoring the subject product of the infomercial before purchasing the featured product or products. Infomercials are for the largest part shown late night to early morning between 2:00am and 6:00am.

Contents

History

Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) eliminated regulations, which were established in the 1950s and 1960s, on the commercial content of television. Much of their early development can be attributed to business partners Edward Valenti and Barry Beecher, who developed the format to sell the Ginsu Knife.

On occasion infomercials have been used for onion election campaigns. Most notably was that of former President of the United States candidate, Ross Perot, when he introduced his 1996 candidacy with running mate, Pat Choate, using an infomercial. Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Harry Browne also used an infomercial in 2000, which was hosted by David Ruprecht, former host of the game show Supermarket Sweep. Lyndon LaRouche was also known for buying time on television networks to run his own campaign infomercials for each of his presidential runs.

Some televangelists such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff buy television time from infomercial brokers representing TV stations around the U.S.A. and even some mass-distributed cable networks that are not adverse to carrying religious programming. A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET under the umbrella title BET Inspiration.

List of Prominently Broadcast Infomercials

Infomercial Personalities

Parodies of infomercials

External links

See also

 

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