Ridiculous Infomercial Review Blog

Ridiculous Infomercial Review reader John sent a link to an article titled Money for nothing - get-rich-quick schemes. This article originally appeared in the Washington Monthy in April 1993—toward the tail end of the late 80s/early 90s “golden age” of infomercials, when any con-artist with a camcorder could make money by airing his own.

The reporter, Art Levine, tells of his first-hand experiences attending seminars advertised on TV infomercials and then attempting to put the money-making systems into practice.

The first seminar he attended was the one run by the couple Mike and Irene Milin, who are still airing their infomercials today. The Milin’s peddled a system for making money at government auctions, and here Levine gives an entertaining account of earnestly trying to make a profit off of a “spectroscope” and outdated software abandoned by the government.

The author also included this description of the Milin’s 1993-era infomercial: “As the screen flashed images of the Milins leaving their mansion, soaking in a hot tub, and flying in a private plane, I leaned forward, eager to learn their secrets of wealth.” I’ve seen Mike and Irene Milin and am therefore glad I managed to miss the sight of the husband and wife soaking in a hot tub.

The other seminar Levine attended is that of Vietnamese real estate guru Tom Vu. There is a lot of talk in the article about the legal storm then-looming over the Tom Vu real estate infomercial empire.

…Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a time machine and a VCR. I miss the early 90s!

The Ridiculous Infomercial Review was chosen as a “pick” by Yahoo! http://picks.yahoo.com/picks/i/20061122.html

So those of you visiting this blog for the first time, I suggest you check out the list of all of our posts at:

http://www.infomercial-hell.com/blog/browse-by-date

In particular I’d recommend these popular posts:

Hard Time in Prison for Tom Vu?

Who Needs Horror When You Have Facial Flex?

Holy [Bleep]! Swearing in Infomercials

What Do Gary Coleman, MC Hammer, the Pets.com Sock Puppet, Mortgages, Insurance, and Loans Have in Common?

Be sure to check back because in the near future we plan on uploading more outrageous video clips of several of the infomercials reviewed on this site, including ExtenZe and the Juiceman.

I couldn’t get to sleep Friday night, so I turned on the radio and listened to an infomercial. And, unlike the vast majority of radio infomercials, this one was not for a health product but was advertising a business opportunity. It was something called The Carey Formula, and it is a course by an inventor named Barbara Carey that is supposed to teach you how to make millions of dollars with your own invention business. (You can see a video clip of the TV version of The Carey Formula infomercial at this website.)

In the course of the infomercial, Carey mentions all of the successful inventions that have made her money over the years. These include a hair accessory called Hairagmi and something called Dittie.

Dittie is a line of tampons, and what is supposed to make Dittie so different is the wrappers for the tampons are colorful and contain “a fun, empowering Dittie message.” Wow, I’m sure men will now wish they had menstrual periods just so they could stick something fun and colorful inside themselves every month.

The Dittie website expands upon this “fun” approach to tampons. The site includes an entire “Fun and Games” section. This features a video game called Tampon Bowling, which replaces the ten pins in a bowling alley with ten giant tampons (presumably Dittie brand).

Another section is called Where Have Your Ditties Been? This is a place for women to send in photographs showing the places that their Dittie tampons have been. (Sorry, guys, it’s not what you think.)

Finally, there is Show Us Your Ditties, where “Dittie girls” send in their own clever sayings, similar to those featured on the Dittie tampon wrappers. My favorite one of these: “Tonight’s the night I’m going to paint the town red!”

I just love some of the flames people email me.

Here’s one that came in yesterday from someone who read my review of the Klee Irwin Dual Action Cleanse infomercial. (By the way, there’s a big sic on all this text.)

From: K–
Date: Monday, November 13, 2006 10:05 PM
Subject: DUEL COLON CLENSE

You had alot of funny jokes about the product, but you sounded like a jelous competetor that actually made it his product more appealing to me. You never once said that you tried it and it didnt work.

That’s just about the mindset I’d expect from a typical colon cleanse user. Of course, I don’t sell any colon cleanser myself, so I’m hardly the “jelous competetor” that this woman thinks I am.

She also makes the brilliant observation that “You never once said that you tried it and it didnt work.” Well, maybe because as I mention on almost every page of my website “The Ridiculous Infomercial Review has fun with some of the most laughable infomercials ever broadcast. This site does not review products and neither endorses nor condemns any of the products sold on the infomercials.”

Of course, if anyone is interested in a serious evaluation of the Dual Action Cleanse product, you can go to this assessment of Dual Action Cleanse written by a medical doctor who takes apart the claims made by Klee Irwin and his company.