I sell things for money. Currently in my inventory I have knockoffs of Shamwow (Mine is called The Original German Shammy), those blankets with sleeves (mine are called Cozy Blankets), and the those glass blown plant feeders (mine are called Watering Bulbs). This week the shammys are winning. Sixty eight so far compared to twenty six of the blankets. I received some kid blanket with sleeves this week that are coming on strong. They come with a pair of bonus matching slippers in blue or pink. Anyone wanna hit an infomercial knockoff home run? Hit me up. I got cases.
I personally haven't ordered anything from an infomercial, because I'm poor and spend all my money on weed and munchees, but I have had friends order things over the TV that turned out to be "Made in China" cheap and totally not worth the money.... one such invention was similar to Vince Shlomi's Slap-Chop, but the one from 1999, that didn't flip open, and the one that didn't make you love his nuts. He used it once. Once. For $20. We ended up using it as a weed grinder though, with limited success, for about 6 months until we got a regular bud grinder that worked infinitely better. Actually looking back on it, my dad did order one of those Clapper doo-hickeys that lets you turn a lamp on by clapping. We had it for literally 6 hours before my dad unplugged it and threw it away, because everyone was clapping non-stop, turning the lights on and off. It was like a really shitty rave.
Mighty Putty rules. The Jupiter Jack is pretty cool, I just wish it came with more frequencies. The ShamWow, however, sucks balls. It's just a big piece of lint. It doesn't do the stuff in the commercials. I was Billy Mays for Halloween, and my friend was Vince. We needed these products to complete our costumes.
I'm on my second Foreman. The newer models seem to be easier to clean than the earlier ones. My new one has the removable plates that you can just throw in the dishwasher. But cleaning it can be really easy. About 1-2 minutes after cooking and unplugging it, put two layers of dampened paper towels between the grill plates and close the lid and let it steam-clean itself. That avoids the nasty caked-on grease. Then after eating, just open the grill, wipe it down with the moist towels and then use a dry paper towel to finish. Takes all of 15 seconds.
Never. Never ever, though I do own a store-bought Magic Bullet. I guess through thick and thin, the most idiotic, laugh-out-loud ridiculous item in infomercial history goes to THIS below gem. Mental retardation at its zenith:
I got the snuggie, and I must say it's pretty awesome, especially now that I own a PS3. I'm also patiently awaiting my DickTowel.
I bought them in Walgreens for something like $5.99 I used them a couple times, so I can't say if they really got me jacked (I went back to weights shortly after) but I definitely felt like I had just gone through my rugby team fitness regimen after using them. I would never trust one of those stupid ad gimmicks, but there might be something to the perfect pushup.
Where I'm from, the magic bullet is a completely different product. Suffice to say that if pieces disappeared it would mean a trip to the ER and a close encounter with some KY and Magills forceps !!
We bought one of those too - for my grandmother because she had broken her hip, so she could clap her lights off at night. I later got a hold of it and put it on my stereo. Since it responded to any loud noises and not just clapping, I would walk into my bedroom and yell, "STEREO ON!" and it would turn on. I was hoping to impress my friends with "futuristic" stereo. Sigh. In my defense, I was about 12 at the time.