INfomercialS aren't exact science; some ring in money, others hit new lows

By DIANE HOLLOWAY / Cox News Service - Love 'em or hate 'em, infomercials - those feature-length TV ads celebrating their 20th year - are as much a part of pop culture as they are marketing tools.

Who among us hasn't stumbled upon some fabulous household gadget during a bout of insomnia? Or discovered the ultimate ab cruncher while spinning the dial? Or hooted with a friend about a cheesy-looking host hawking hair products?

"They've told us everything we ever wanted to know about slicing, dicing, slimming and toning," said Steven Dworman, infomercial expert and author of "$12 Billion of Inside Marketing Secrets Discovered Through Direct Response Television Sales."

Besides providing objects of marvel and ridicule, those "paid programming" titles in the listings are the most lucrative form of direct marketing ever created, according to Advertising Age magazine.

So, on this auspicious anniversary, we hit the infomercial highs - and lows.

Herbalife and life thereafter
Photo Illustration By Kyle Sackowski / The Press-Enterprise

The first infomercial, touting Herbalife diet and nutrition products, arrived on cable's USA Network in 1984.

President Reagan paved the way for long-form commercials when he scrapped the Federal Communications Commission's regulation limiting the number of ad minutes allowed per hour.

After the success of Herbalife (which is still on the air), the floodgates opened, and soon we were sweating to the oldies with Richard Simmons, reaching to the cosmos with the Psychic Friends Network and pumping up our "Personal Power" with Tony Robbins.

In the early going, most infomercials were on cable because ad time was cheaper. Now most are on broadcast TV between midnight and 5 a.m. weekdays and weekend afternoons.
Soloflex look

Handsomely shot on film, the Soloflex infomercial featured glistening, well-muscled men gracefully pumping against rubber-band weights. The piece was so gorgeous, a San Francisco gay bar ran it 24 hours a day.

Besides the sex appeal, Soloflex was a marketing breakthrough. With a $1,500 price tag, the machines were the first expensive items sold via infomercial, earning $100 million in its peak year in the mid-'90s.

Dworman says the biggest info-hits fall into three main categories, with exercise/fitness at the top. (The others are beauty products and kitchen gadgets.) HealthRider brought in $140 million in its peak year with an elaborately choreographed infomercial featuring 20 lovely dancers on the machines. Total Gym with Christie Brinkley and Chuck Norris is one of the most profitable infomercials today, grossing more than $1 billion since its 1997 debut.

Famous faces

Former "Dallas" star Victoria Principal has raked in more money selling cosmetics than she did as Pam Ewing. Cher, during one of her many career lulls, also has made a killing on cosmetics.

But the first woman to really hit the beauty mother lode was not a celebrity. Victoria Jackson was a Hollywood makeup artist who, in 1989, launched her line of cosmetics using celebrities such as Ali McGraw and Lisa Hartman. Jackson's infomercials soon made her a star.

But skin products don't have to be glamorous. Proactiv, an acne medication with annual sales in the $600 million range, is probably the most successful product ever sold by infomercial, according to the Infomercial Marketing Report.

The Juiceman cometh

The humble little produce-squisher called Juiceman launched a retail craze, the first time an infomercial boosted sales of other brands in stores.

The George Foreman grill was another product that changed the relationship of infomercial products and retail. The happy boxer's infomercial wasn't particularly successful in TV sales, but the half-hour show helped promote sales of Foreman grill's store sales.

Perhaps the most-recognized and oft-quoted infomercials of all time come from Ron Popeil, inventor of Ronco kitchen products such as the Veg-O-Matic, rotisserie oven and "But wait, there's more!"

Fizzes

Besides the hits, there have been spectacular flops.

Aimed primarily at African-Americans, the Rio Hair Naturalizer System touted its ability to relax curly hair and make it soft, shiny and fabulously straight. Unfortunately, it made lots of women's hair fall out.

Another info-failure had nothing to do with the product but everything to do with its celebrity endorser. Revlon decided to enter the infomercial business and hired Dolly Parton to tout its new cosmetics line.

"It was the worst disaster in infomercial history," Dworman said. "People love Dolly Parton, but who wants to look like her?"
Fire power

In a series of infomercials in 1989 dubbed "Amazing Discoveries," a car hood was set on fire to prove the amazing polish could take it. That was enough to stop millions of channel-hoppers.

But how do infomercials hook viewers and actually get them to call and purchase in the last few seconds when the 800 number finally pops up on screen? There's the celebrity factor: Dworman's tip is "Never make your celebrity the expert; always have your celebrity play the role of satisfied customer."

And the sex factor: Playboy's 30-minute ad for its video "Secrets of Making Love" not only made big sales, it attracted a huge audience. Usually infomercials aren't rated by Nielsen, but this Playboy infomercial, aired in New York in the early '90s, beat "The Arsenio Hall Show" on Fox.

You may be wondering why we haven't mentioned the Thigh Masters and Ginsu knives, possibly the most famous products sold on TV. There's a reason: They were never infomercials. Along with the bamboo steamer and a few others, these two have been featured in two-minute commercials. Technically infomercials are 30 minutes or longer.