My Daughter and Infomercials …

My 13-year-old daughter turned to me excitedly the other day and said we MUST get a NuWave Oven Pro.

“You can broil, roast, grill, bake, and even dehydrate without all the fats and oils,” she explained patiently.

She’s also mentioned that we could use a Slap Chop, a ShamWow, the Shark Vacuum, and possibly EZ Combs (“You can create dozens of dazzling hairstyles,” she adds without looking at me.)

My daughter has been falling asleep to infomercials.

She even watches them – on purpose – all morning on the weekends. She tells us excitedly, at football practice or at dinner the next day, about the dehydrator, the Your Baby Can Read products, or the fact that the Snuggie now comes in “wild prints.” She says all this as if it’s common knowledge — as if I’m sort of the last to know.

I should have known something was amiss when she became devastated – distraught, mind you – when Billy Mays died. Now, I know that was very sad. I am always sad to hear of a death like that. But the entire country was mourning the loss of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson at the time, but it was Billy Mays’ death a few days later that had her curled up on the couch and nibbling on her lower lip. She was so upset. She kept watching the news with hope of more information about Billy Mays – How did he die? How could this be? How terribly sad. …

It was then we realized that she’s been watching infomercials like they’re favorite soap operas.

I figure there’s nothing terribly wrong about it. It’s not as if she has access to any cash (thank God!). And, maybe after seeing a zillion of them over a period of a couple of years, she’ll realize they all kind of come around again – they’re all either trying to help you chop tomatoes faster, clean your house faster, or lose 30 pounds in a miraculous amount of time.

And the ones that make it to the “As Seen On TV” section of the convenience stores? Well, I guess she can save her allowance for those ones.

(She did, actually, get her younger brother a child-size “Snuggie” for his birthday.)

I suppose we all know what we’re getting for Christmas. …

How about you? Are you always stunned at the amazing power of infomercials? What are your favorites?

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6 thoughts on “My Daughter and Infomercials …

  1. Well, at least we know where we can find the perfect gifts for her!!!!
    Maybe she’ll want that super easy car washer????

  2. That is great, I love it! My kids have their favorite informercials that they will stop and watch when flipping the channels, and I have had a few requests – but nothing like Rene. When my son was younger he surprised me with a food chopper on his Christmas list and I have to admit, I bought the Ronco rotisseree (sp?)- “just set it, and forget it”! Every now and then I have to stop and see what I can get for “three easy payments of 29.99”, unfortunately the products usually aren’t as great as they say. At least now you can go to a “As seen on TV” store and see what it really looks like. Rene seems to be very creative so maybe she has a future in advertising 🙂

  3. Oh, I loved reading this, Debi! Yes, there was a rotisserie that Rene had her eye on also. (“Just set it and forget it” made me laugh.) And you’re right, the “As Seen on TV” section of some convenience stores in kind of cool. In fact, I went into a Walgreens for the first time in eons the other day, and I saw they had a whole section right in front of the store! I had just written this post and had it in “drafts,” so I was looking at the section with great interest. 🙂 There was some lip gloss thing that was a ball (??) couldn’t figure that one out. …

    Anyway, thanks for the fun comment.

    And yes, maybe she does have a career in advertising! I’ll have to mention that to her. Funny …

  4. Well, its just not for kids! A number of years ago my husband and I went to a home and garden show where they have lots of ‘infomercial-like’ presentations but they are LIVE and IN PERSON. But wait, there’s more! You can take home this wonderful pressure-fryer for only one low payment of $$$$$ and start your way to delicious, healthy meals for your whole family faster than you can say ‘what on earth are we going to do with this thing’!!! I wandered away from Tom for a peek at the decorating vendors in the next row and by the time I got back to him we were the proud owner of a pressure-fryer that I think we used for one month. It now has a special place in the very back of our cabinet.

    So its not just kids!

  5. Oh, Dave — I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. Rene is like her Nana Connie in a LOT of ways, actually. Sometimes I’ll see her sitting there watching “Sara” on the cooking channel, and I just think, “Wow, that’s weird — I recall Connie sitting in that exact spot watching that exact show.” I forgot about the infomercial thing! 🙂

    Aunt Helene — Oh, gosh, so Uncle Tom likes those, too, huh? Yeah, those “live” ones are even more tempting! I know I’ve stood for a very, very long time watching the Ginsu knives demonstration at the Orange County fair. I think the same guy is there every year. I never succombed at the fair, but I know Chris has gone and purchased those knives here and there ever since — he was sold the very first time we saw it!

    Infomercials really make me think about advertising a lot. Because as much as we make fun of the “wait! there’s more!” concept, we all really buy that stuff! They’re doing something very, very right.

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