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Infomercial
- 56 statements
- 9 feature instances
- 15 referencing feature instances
| Infomercial | type |
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| Infomercial | label |
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The infomercial (a.k.a. teleshopping or paid programming) is a tried and true advertisement, wherein advertisers purchase an entire half-hour block of time to hawk their products. These slots are generally late at night or early in the morning; wherever the network feels they can't make enough money selling normal ads to justify buying an actual show. On independent stations (especially in smaller markets) they can show up at any time of the day or night. They can even be disguised as "morning talk shows" designed to rope the housewife crowd into thinking that an amazing spa in town was discovered by the show's hosts, when said spa is paying for the show to mention them. They'll give you "professional, independent research" on how their product is the best, show you how clumsy their competitors' products are (using an actor who is paid to make their competitors' products look as clumsy as possible), and even extol the virtues of their product in front of a real live Studio Audience (who were pre-screened for their ability to ooh, ah, and yell "and forget it!"). Infomercials are often dressed up as a talk show or pundit program, with the "guest" hawking the product. Infomercials even have "commercial breaks" (to tell you how to get the product, of course). Many state fairs have commerce tents in which sellers demonstrate their wares infomercial style. This setup is called a "Hawk Stand" in Carny lingo. They are "hawking" products. The guy doing the demonstrations is the barker, or the "Doc". "Barker", after the speaking style, which employs short, sharp words like a dog barking. "Doc" comes a longer route - traveling snake-oil salesmen always claimed to be a doctor of one sort or another, and they used a very similar setup and pitch to do their thing. So there you are, in case you were wondering about the difference between a snake-oil salesman and an infomercial spokesperson: namely, one of them works in front of a camera. Uncommon on British TV, apart from those channels that are devoted to them, thanks to government regulation that has the main networks act in the public interest (of which airing long commercials for phone-a-psychics usually aren't part). Some Freeview channels such as Yesterday show nothing else after normal programming has ended. It used to be said that the commercial break on British TV was the chance to go to the kitchen and make a brew. Well, if the AhhBra monster is anything to go by, you can go to the kitchen, cook and eat a three course meal - with cheeseboard afterwards - and when you go back to the living room again, that irritating American woman still hasn't finished shilling her wonder bra, along with suspiciously minimal post-production... |
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Dropped link to DeceptivelySimpleDemonstration: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to InUniverse: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to NewsMonopoly: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Infomercial | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Infomercial / int_22f49cdf | type |
Infomercial | |
| Infomercial / int_22f49cdf | comment |
In-universe example: Castle, "Sucker Punch". Johnny Vong gets rich off of "get rich quick" infomercials (thanks to a fake accent and a rags-to-riches story that never was), as well as using the books as a front for the heroin trade. This was a direct allusion to the real life "tale" of Tom Vu in the early 1990s. | |
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| Castle | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_51ef8ae4 | type |
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| Infomercial / int_51ef8ae4 | comment |
One The Garfield Show episode features a channel centered around these, the aptly-named All Buying Stuff Channel. The host easily suckers those watching into buying things that are useless, either through Exact Words (e.g. Odie gets an "exquisite diamond-studded flea collar" that's literally meant for a flea) or outright lies, and throw out anyone who comes to their studio looking for a refund. Garfield manages to get them shut down through an Engineered Public Confession. | |
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| The Garfield Show | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_87b55b5d | type |
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| Infomercial / int_87b55b5d | comment |
Parodied by The Onion News Network, with a segment of the fake panel-discussion show "In the Know" quickly morphing into a pitch for the EZ-Go Juicer. | |
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| The Onion (Website) | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_976efc02 | type |
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| Infomercial / int_976efc02 | comment |
Parodied in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Project Moon Base", where Joel and Bots present an infomercial for "SPACOM", a mystery substance that can be used for just about everything, from industrial solvent to snack food. The infomercial borrows claims and catchphrases from a number of popular '80s infomercials. | |
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| Mystery Science Theater 3000 | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_9e522749 | type |
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| Infomercial / int_9e522749 | comment |
Prior to Raven's Home, Chelsea made it big with her "Schmop" infomercials. Unfortunately, her now ex-husband stole all her cash and subsequently ended up in jail for tax fraud. This is why Chelsea and her son end up moving in with her recently divorced childhood friend Raven and her twins. | |
| Infomercial / int_9e522749 | featureApplicability |
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| Raven's Home | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_9f89a5f0 | type |
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| Infomercial / int_9f89a5f0 | comment |
In the Switch years, this has been replaced with Nintendo Direct and Nintendo Direct Mini, to preview the games coming to the Switch. Some are more specific, such as the Pokemon Direct which only covers, you guessed it, Pokémon. | |
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| Pokémon (Franchise) | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_bd0407d8 | type |
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| Infomercial / int_bd0407d8 | comment |
And pilloried by the Ad Turds blog, where they are taken as evidence of Great Britain yet again adopting the very worst socio-cultural phenomena to come out of the USA. | |
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| Ad Turds (Website) | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_e3433012 | type |
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| Infomercial / int_e3433012 | comment |
5 Second Films has their very own Jon Worley, hawking such amazing products as Chop Wow! (a device for disposing of dead hookers); Flip-a-baby (for if you hate babies); and in one case, Jon Worley himself and his...special cleaning powers: | |
| Infomercial / int_e3433012 | featureApplicability |
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| 5 Second Films (Web Video) | hasFeature |
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| Infomercial / int_f6c05e8e | type |
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| Infomercial / int_f6c05e8e | comment |
Friends: Joey occasionally appeared in these during low points in his career including one for the "Milk Master 2000" as "Kevin" who couldn't open milk cartons without spilling. The rest of the gang have occasionally admitted to buying items they've seen on informericals. Rachel ended up buying the "Milk Master" (to Joey's delight) while Monica has purchased a mop and a home body waxing kit, which Phoebe also considered getting. Chandler and Kathy later bond over the fact that he bought the "Wonder Broom" that she'd seen on TV. | |
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| Friends | hasFeature |
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