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

By Remy Stern

Book Overview

Whether it was a Ginsu knife, George Foreman Grill, Tony Robbins' motivational book, kitchen device by Ron Popeil, or any of the countless other famous products that have been marketed on infomercials over the years, admit it: you or someone you know has bought one--and you're not alone. Last year, one out of every three Americans picked up the phone and ordered a product from a television infomercial or home shopping network, and in But Wait . . . There's More journalist (and infomercial addict) Remy Stern offers a lively, behind-the-scenes exploration of this enormous business--one that markets the world's most outrageous products using the most outrageous tactics. Don't let the kitschy exterior fool you: behind the laughable demonstrations, goofy grins, and cheesy dialogue lies an industry larger than the film and music industries combined. The first book of its kind, But Wait . . . There's More exposes the never-before-told story of the infomercial and home shopping phenomenon in all its excessive glory and its meteoric rise to become one of the most profitable businesses in America. Along the way, Stern details the history behind the classic products and introduces readers to some of the most famous (and infamous) pitchmen and personalities in the business, including Tony Robbins, Billy Mays, Ron Popeil, Tony Little, Suzanne Somers, Kevin Trudeau, and Joe Francis. He also presents an in-depth look at the business behind the camera--the canny sales strategies, clever psychological tools, and occasionally questionable tactics marketers have used to get us to open up our wallets and spend, spend, spend. Stern's eye-opening account also offers a penetrating look at how late-night television conquered the American consumer and provides insight into modern American culture: our rampant consumerism, our desire for instant riches, and our collective dream of perfect abs, unblemished skin, and gleaming white teeth. Both a compelling business story and a thoroughly entertaining piece of investigative journalism (with a touch of muckraking and social satire), But Wait . . . There's More will ensure that you never look at those too-good-to-be-true deals the same way again.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006126055X
• ISBN13: 9780061260551
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Harper Business
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Fun and fascinating

OK, so I'm a little biased because I've been obsessed with home shopping and infomercials since I was a kid (not really wanting to buy anything, but something totally captivated me about them). This book is really interesting and has some astute observations about what people, especially Americans, can be convinced to do.

An eye opener

After reading "But Wait", I will never look at an infomercial or, for that matter, any commercial, the same way again. I love infomercials-- I seek them out in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. I especially like the ones concerning cooking-- and some I have seen many times. I have only bought a couple of products, one of them the Veg-O-Matic, and another one that did slicing or dicing. I was satisfied with both of them. But for the most part I thought the rest of the stuff I saw advertised was highy over-priced for what it was. After reading "But Wait"-- I wouldn't dream of buying anything from an infomercial ever again. I have a suspicious mind anyway, and this book just re-inforces what I already thought--- that the buyers had better beware. And keep their credit cards in their wallet.

Operators Are Standing By!

A fad for deregulation hit our country in the mid-1980s, and whether you think this was a good thing or a bad thing, it inarguably brought us late-night advertisements for: the miracle Food Dehydrator, the Ronco Automatic Pasta Maker, spray-on-hair for balding persons, the Snuggie, and colon cleansing based on Biblical principles. Everybody has seen these cheesy commercials, and there is a reason: they work. Last year, 30% of Americans ordered something from such "infomercials". (Don't try doing your own survey - my guess is that people don't easily admit to such things.) An original and amusing history of the infomercial industry is given in the appropriately-titled _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_ (Collins Business) by Remy Stern. The cover of the book even has the ambiguous seal-of-approval on it: "As seen on TV." Stern is an editor and publisher who admits he has bought a pasta machine and the German miracle cleanser Didi Seven in his youth, and for research purposes he has ordered books and video tapes that were guaranteed to make him a millionaire in thirty days. It's rather a good thing that such schemes have not worked for him and he has stuck to the extensive research for his book. It's a serious look at a distinctly American commercial phenomenon, but since so much of the subject is downright silly, it is funny inherently, and is enlivened by many of Stern's jokes. Of course, Stern starts with a visit to Ron Popeil, the "Grandfather of the Infomercial, whose demonstrations on TV for his Ronco gadgets like the Veg-o-Matic, the Chop-o-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, and Mr. Microphone made him a household name. Popeil got his start as a pitchman for Woolworth's and uses the same techniques on TV that he uses in person. "Although his ads weren't very glamorous," says Stern, "they earned plenty of attention (and a measure of annoyance) thanks to their in-your-face salesiness." Stern makes the point that Ronco's gadgets were not miraculous or even clever inventions - they were usually modifications (or downright steals) of previous sellers. Popeil's gadgets work, sometimes completely, sometimes only somewhat, but they aren't ripoffs. Stern singles out especially the businesses that promise tapes, books, and seminars that will make you a millionaire, especially in real estate, or the cure-alls, like Fat Trapper, Hair Farmer, Lifeway Vitamin Spray, or Exercise in a Bottle. Even worse are the ones with healing powers against cancer. Of course, the ads have tiny letters speeding by to say the product does not cure any disease, but the ads themselves try hard to give the opposite impression. They may not be poisons, but if they keep people from getting proper treatment, they might as well be. The big problem is that the Federal Trade Commission or the Food and Drug Administration may eventually take action again

Fascinating

I thought this book was great. Written in a very engaging style. The chapter on how the infomercials are created is worth the price of the book all by itself. Parts of it were a little depressing though, such as how easy it is to sucker people who don't have money and the long list of dishonest people who have "gotten away with it", in that, even if they had to pay some fines, it was nothing compared to what they earned. A photo section would have been nice. Also, I would have been interested to know if there were or are ANY infomercials advertising products that really are truly innovative or useful. The author would have you believe that the answer is no, but I wonder...