Do you enjoy the thrill of a purchase from an infomercial, QVC, HLN? Here is an interview with someone who’s addicted to it. Sue wrote this post about “As seen on TV” but it was so long ago I thought it would be okay to ask again. What is the most outrageous thing you’ve ever purchased as a result of a television promotion?
Inspired by Gayle King
 | Nunniabiness B on Magic Eye |
 | neomama on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Shelley on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Dyahn Darvey on Salisbury Steak from Paula… |
 | irene trammel on Magic Eye |
 | Julianne on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Vanna on How long do you shower? |
 | Michelle Colpus on Your children |
 | Tanya on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Heather on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Donna Dillard on Cheeseburger Soup |
| Donna Dillard on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Sharon on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | JoJo on Cheeseburger Soup |
 | Ellen on Cheeseburger Soup |
Us Girls..Our Views 
I read this last night, and started thinking on it. I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything just because I saw it on an infomercial. I can say, I’ve never bought anything off a shopping channel. We don’t have them, since we don’t have cable. But honestly, the infomercial thing…. Oh! Wait. I did buy one thing, recently. I saw a dog toy advertised as a bonus on a commercial for a dog no-pull harness. One of those “if you call now, we’ll give you TWO harnesses for the price of one AND we’ll throw in this wicked awesome no-stuffing dog toy!”
Well, I thought the no-stuffing dog toy sounded really good, since I have a Woobie-Gut Surgeon in my house (surgically chew open brand new stuffed animal at seam, remove every last molecule of batting, spread evenly through entire house. All three floors. Hide a few tufts so they have time to reproduce each time Mommy collects “the last damn piece” and they’re never really cleaned up).
So when I saw a “gutless” Woobie, I thought, “awesome”! But not enough to order *two* of the no-pull harnesses when I didn’t even need one. But then I saw them in Wal-Mart and bought a fox for Cruise (because at the time, we had a fox running around here, taunting the crap out of him). He LOVED it. Carried it everywhere. Chewed it, threw it, rolled on it, danced around it, pawed it, shredded it. It lasted six months. Ok, it’s still going strong, but it’s disgusting. He now has a raccoon that he’s doing the same thing to.
I believe the only thing I ever bought based on a TV commercial was a Jim Croce album, back when I was maybe 11 years old. It was for my dad, who did like it. He didn’t like the fact that it was COD and the actual cost was a great deal more than what was advertised, thanks to shipping and handling and such. So that was a lesson learned, and learned well.
I have actually sold some jewelry on HSN. Well, they ordered from us (we were importers) and we had to sit and package a kajillion sets of jewellery for them to sell. I don’t recall how well it sold on HSN. It was pretty stuff though, so it probably did fine. Eventually China started producing knock-offs for cheaper.
Did I actually spell jewelry that way?
LOL!!! I might not have even noticed it had you not said anything. You never make mistakes.
I make my share of typos, but the funny thing is that that’s how they spell jewelry in some other parts of the world.
Yep. I noticed it. I just figured you’d been abroad lately and were still in a “european” state of mind. I do that when I’m reading an English author… I ten to slip into “English” instead of “American”. WAY more acceptable than saying, “they sold are jewellry on there show. We had to package it hear.”
Reminds me of a conversation last Friday between Miss E and an Indian-born auntie. We were talking about how in India, “yes” is indicated by a sort of head-bobble.
Miss E: In America, when we want to say “yes,” we nod our heads like this [nodding].
Miss E: How do Indians say “no”? [auntie demonstrates]
Miss E: You do that just like an American!
It was funny to me, anyway.
I bought some hooks from QVC one year a LONG time ago. Bailey was maybe 2. It was Christmas time, and they showed them hanging stockings. They were supposed to suction to the wall and it actually showed them hanging a bowling ball! A BOWLING BALL! Do you think it held my Christmas stockings? Nope!
LOL!!! A bowling ball?? LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!
I should have know then it was too good to be true! LOL
Paul used to buy a lot of that crap they had on these. He would watch and get caught up in them. Infomercials don’t suck me in but I have bought things from TV commercials. Once I bought a laptop “tray” thing and it was such a piece of junk. Of course I bought the “second one free” with shipping added extra so instead of one piece of junk I had two!!! There was no way that thing worked. It was plastic and it wobbled and it was just junk.
I also bought some of those microfiber cloths but I ended up giving them to Nikki because my skin hurt to use them. They feel terrible to the skin.
Why do things look so good on TV? What makes us think things really work like that?
The magic of TV production.
I’ve had to give Josh a bunch of lessons about this crap. He watches Qubo channel, which has awesome cartoons and children-friendly advertising, but that “children-friendly” advertising is almost exclusively infomercials. And his ability to recall those stupid phone numbers/websites is phenomenal. He can hear a commercial ONCE and repeat it back to me almost word for word. I’m trying to sell his services as a pitch man.
The only thing I’ve purchased from TV was my Turbo Jam workout DVD’s and I have to say, 4 years later (or whatever it’s been!) I’m still using it and I LOVE them!!!