We have all laughed and made our little jokes about the Snuggie. And if you try and claim that you never felt inspired at 2 am that you too could make millions in real estate, I will call you a liar. However, I recently saw a commercial for a device called the Twin Draft Guard. After nagging my husband for months to fix the draft coming in under the back door I almost tripped over my own two feet running for the phone. Still waiting on this little piece of genius engineering to arrive. Focus: What have you ever purchased from an infomercial? What is all that you hoped it would be?
I bought the Billy Mays endorsed Fix IT for scratches to your car, boat, countertop...anything! After getting through 12 pages of other offers I bought my two tubes of fix it. Unfortunately, they did absolutely nothing. I was pretty pissed, but then I realized how stupid I was for thinking it might actually work.
I got a ShamWow 'cause, "I don't know know... it sells itsself!" Works well.. bought it at BigLots. Cheap.
My company actually works with the likes of QVC and TheHomeShoppingNetwork, so I deal with these types of products daily. Our best product to date was the Aqua Globe or Watering Nanny (actually sells under a number of names). As much as I love the thing, it's funny looking back at how people (mostly women) across North America went nuts for it, when really you could do the same thing with a 2-liter pop bottle.
Kind of on topic: girls gone wild. Being drunk and single and watching spike at 2:30 am got the best of me. $10 for 3 videos of horny coeds?! And I can cancel anytime?! Sign me up! Then the videos came in and they were shit. Some tits and ass but there is way better stuff on the internet for free. And the videos kept coming every month. And they took $30 out of my account every time they sent one. And when I called to cancel they put me on hold and transfered my call long enough for me to get pissed and hang up before anything got resolved. Sneaky fucks.
Motherfucking Set It and Forget It! I actually own the Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ, and for what it is, its not bad at all. I've cooked everything from bacon wrapped dove breasts to roasted chickens to deer sausage using this thing. It does a great job of keeping all of the food moist, which is the most important thing. It is one ugly spacetaking dickhead of an appliance, however.
That's you dear. You all know you want one of these. The machine not the chick. Or both but, I'm sure she's not included for $199.95. I could be wrong though, she looks easy.
My brother got me a set of "Perfect Push Ups" last year. Honestly they were pretty solidly made but I usually kept my work outs to the time I devoted to going to the gym. So they got used maybe twice and then I gave them to my roommate who proceeded never to use them again. I think I would have used the "perfect pull up" since that was the real area I needed help in. Somebody better fess up and let us know if colon detox is hype or not. edit: I'm not sure about that hooker puss Vince's Slap Chop but my mom has had a similar device for years. It is by far the most useful thing you'll ever buy off an infomercial or methhead at the flea market.
I bought the magic bullet. It works pretty good, but it has so many freaking pieces that over time it disappears. I prefer a regular blender and standard kitchen utensils, though. Bowflex, my brother and dad each bought one. I used one for awhile and it definitely had resistance, but free weights still kick butt no matter how much room they take up and how awkward they are.
Although I didn't order it from TV, I have purchased a veggie chopper. This thing is really awesome. For those of you who like to cook, I highly recommend it. My step dad bought my mom a snuggie as a joke and she loves that dam thing! I kept trying to tell her, "Mom, that snuggie makes you look old." Then I tried it. By God if it wasn't the most comfortable thing! I still refuse to buy one based solely on principal.
The George Foreman Grill. It works as advertised but the grease drips all over when you cook burgers and it's a pain in the ass to clean. I've used it a dozen times of so, usually whenever I remember I have it (like just now) and it's functional but I'll take a skillet or oven/grill over it every time.
I know a couple that bought a few of these. They modified them slightly and use them to smoke meth. ...lots of it.
Oxiclean: What can I say, I wear a white jacket for a living and like to look neat and professional before I start a shift. This product works on just about any stain and has saved me the hassle of having to get my jackets professionally cleaned every 2 weeks or having to replace them regularly. Billy Mays, I owe you a debt in gratitude.
I give a big ol' "me too" on this. I use Oxi Clean in my laundry and it works wonders. The other day, I had to change a tire in my khakis, in the pouring rain, on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I was super pissed, so I didn't give a fuck how dirty I got. My pants were soaked and had mud and grass all over them before it was over. I threw them in the wash with a bit of Oxi Clean and they now look like new. Along the same lines, Kaboom is awesome on your showers. Buy that shit.
I have a Foreman grill also. I found, like Guy Fawkes above, that cooking meat on it was a pain in the ass...it gets grease everywhere, it's impossible to clean, it makes bone-dry chicken, etc. So mostly it sit idle, until I realized an alternate use for it. It turns out it's a perfect home Panini press. Take some halfway decent bread, put some meat and cheese in there and maybe a little pesto or spinach or something, and press away. A few minutes later, seriously perfect restaurant-quality panini. Very little mess, too.
I got one too as a gift, but it was actually one of the later ones with removal plates. Do these even count as an infomercial product anymore? Either way, it works pretty well if you don't expect that much out of it. I'm dying for the magic bullet as well. I'm not sure why really as I have an emulsion blender that does the same thing. The one that I purchased myself was some type of epoxy putty that came in a small plastic tube. The two parts are a nice soft inner putty with a cylinder of hardener inside the middle. You just tear off a piece as large as you want, kneed it together, and mush it all over whatever needs to withstand a nuclear attack. It works amazingly well. My old junker of a car had a small plastic coolant pipe spring a leak about 6 months ago and it was going to cost about $300 in labor to have fixed due to all the parts that had to come off to remove it. I covered it from one end to the other with this epoxy stuff and have never had a problem. Best dollar I ever spent at one of those, "As Seen On TV" stores.
Silly goose. Everyone knows you're supposed to put it inside of the sink to use it. All the grease goes down the disposal and it's already in the prime position for cleaning (which MUST be done immediately). Do that, and you'll start LOVING the Foreman. Focus: It's been said before, but OxiClean and KaBoom! are freaking amazing. I don't even consider those infomercial products anymore, though, since they've become so popular that you can purchase them at your local Target. I really want someone to tell me if the Shake WeightTM is worth it. I might start working out more if I could also simultaneously improve my handjob skills.
Shouldn't her boyfriend thank you later? Anyways, back to the focus, only thing I bought off an infomercial was Time Life's The Real Ghostbusters 25 DVD set. Best purchase I ever made stoned, and that is including Chipotle.