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Operators are standing by! A show about infomercials

Mike Mozart
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flickr creative commons

The inconic inventor and pitchman Ron Popeil died July 28. He was 86 years old. This hour, we listen back to the 2016 show we did with Popeil on the form he perfected: the infomercial.

The Thighmaster, the Chop-O-Matic, the George Foreman Grill, and the Clapper… products which are all part of American consumer culture and which were all introduced through infomercials.

But as online shopping increases and traditional television watching decreases, what will become of celebrity pitchmen like Tony Little and Richard Simmons?

GUESTS:

  • Kevin Harrington - Author of Key Person of Influence: The Five-Step Method to Become One of the Most Highly Valued and Highly Paid People in Your Industry
  • Ron Popeil - The late inventor and infomercial pitchman
  • Remy Stern - Author of But Wait… There’s More! Tighten Your Abs, Make Millions, and Learn How the $100 Billion Infomercial Industry Sold Us Everything But the Kitchen Sink

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Lydia Brown, Ray Hardman, Greg Hill, Betsy Kaplan, Ross Levin, Stephanie Riefe, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired March 7, 2016.

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Josh was a producer for WNPR's talk shows. He has produced for Where We Live and was a producer for The Colin McEnroe Show until 2020.
Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.
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