What are the best infomercial products of all time? If we judge them by their public image and how well they sell, the answer’s easy. Although these long, late-night ads are highly effective, infomercial products tend to have a bad name. Yet the ones that do deliver on their promises are consistent best sellers.
The Best Infomercial Products of All Time
Proactiv is perhaps the best-selling and most well-known TV product. With over a billion dollars in sales, Proactiv is a serious competitor in the skincare industry. This zit cream has been around since 1995 and it’s a huge seller.
What’s more, a survey found 90 percent have heard of it and believe it works. No wonder Proactiv’s CEO, Jay Sung, says they ran 5,000 TV spots a week in 2017.
NutriSystem is a provider of various weight loss products. You probably remember their ads with Marie Osmond, who is still a spokesperson for the brand. The company has sold directly to consumers since 1999, largely using TV ads to get the word out.
NutriSystem was recently valued at $1.6 billion according to the Wall Street Journal.
Who would have thought that a boxer endorsing an indoor grill would have brought such great success? It’s undeniable that the George Foreman Grill is one of the best infomercial products of all time considering over 100 million have sold worldwide. The odd success of this product is due mostly to the success of the advertising campaign and its pitchman.
Bob Garfield, an editorial writer for Advertising Age said of the combo, “There’s just no explaining it, except he was a highly charged personality, very likable, a noted carnivore who was selling a good and inexpensive product.”
When TV commercials for the Snuggie first came out, we all loved to chuckle at the product. 20 million sales later, the folks behind the Snuggie brand might be having the last laugh. The Snuggie was not the first brand of a sleeved blanket. But because of the popularity of TV advertisements released by the brand in 2008, they became a pop culture phenomenon.
OxiClean was popularized by their spokesman Billy Mays through his iconic sales pitch style. Mays pitched many popular TV products in the 90’s and early 2000’s, but OxiClean was perhaps his most iconic. Through TV ads principally, sales of OxiClean reached $120 million by the year 2,000. OxiClean currently exists as an expanded line of cleaning products primarily sold in-stores.
Similarly to OxiClean, the success of the ShamWow was due greatly to the success of the pitchman featured on their TV commercials. “Vince Offer” sold the uber-absorbent cleaning cloth in a way that went viral across the country.
Less than a year after the product came out, Offer told CNBC that he had sold “definitely millions” of the towels.
Bowflex first appeared on TV screens in 1986. Since then, the product has grossed over $1 billion. The at-home workout machine uses a number of polymer rods for tension as opposed to traditional weights. You probably remember the infomercial for the display of rock-hard bodies and promises to get fit in “just six weeks.”
Bowflex, now owned by Nautilus Inc., remains a brand of fitness equipment selling various machines as well as other workout accessories.
Since 2002, P90X has been persuading those watching TV at 3:00 AM to get running, jumping, and sweating along with their workout program. You probably remember the name, Tony Horton. Horton is the fitness guru placed as the figurehead of the workout program. Horton claims the program will give noticeable changes to your body after following the program for just 90-days.
Numerous celebrities, athletes, and politicians have lauded the effects of the program. Horton and his business partners reported to the New York Times that the brand brings in $400 million yearly.
I bet you remember the Ped Egg. This palm-sized foot filer took off after being first introduced in 2007. The combination of viral commercials and a very reasonable price sold 35 million of these as of 2014. The classic Ped Egg — along with new variants like a battery-powered, automatic version — is now available in-stores and online.
Considering the aforementioned examples, there is no clear formula for creating a successful infomercial product. Creating a best-selling infomercial product is about effective advertising just as much as it is about a quality product. Sometimes, the best infomercial product is the least expected.
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