Ridiculous Infomercial Review Blog

In his latest infomercial, Kevin Trudeau tries to sell his book Debt Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About by fooling people into thinking they are watching The View—or at least some cheap knock-off of The View.

I’m not sure why this would make any human being more likely to watch Kevin Trudeau’s infomercial. If you haven’t seen The View, it is a daytime TV talk show that features Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, and a bunch of other ladies with no talent mooing and cackling about nonsense. My reaction upon seeing The View on my TV screen is to reach for the remote control as soon as possible and change the channel to The Price is Right.

Kevin Trudeau must believe, however, that this program is so popular that viewers will eagerly watch his infomercial if it is disguised as some knock-off version of The View called “The Hot Seat.”

The Hot Seat infomercial, like The View, features a panel of ladies interviewing a guest. The women featured here are Terri Oullette (veteran hostess of such infomercials as the Oreck Air Purifier), Nancy Valen (former Baywatch babe), Sara Underwood (2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year) and someone named Michelle Huber. I don’t know who Michelle Huber is but if she is the same Michelle Huber listed in the Internet Movie Database her claim to fame consists of playing “Attractive Woman” on a single episode of The Sopranos.

The program opens with host Terri Ouellette really trying to fool people into thinking this is a legitimate talk show: “Hi, welcome to The Hot Seat. I’m Terri Ouellette, and as usual we have our regulars on the show today…” Excuse me? “As usual?” “Regulars?” This is a damn infomercial! Maybe there was some other infomercial that I missed that also tried to disguise itself as “The Hot Seat,” but unless I’m mistaken The Hot Seat has never aired before this advertisement designed to sell Kevin Trudeau’s Debt Cure book!

It’s no secret that TV commercials have long featured gorgeous models demonstrating their products. Whenever a skin cream or cosmetics ad appears, some beauty with perfect skin is always the person shown applying the product. When an infomercial demonstrates a home gym, some ripped guy with bulging biceps and a perfect six-pack will more likely than not be the one working out on it. While no product will make you as attractive as the woman using the skin cream or as muscular and the man using the home gym, at least the model really does have a need for skin care products and cosmetics and the muscleman does use exercise equipment.

The infomercial for Kymaro Body Shaper sells a product that is supposed to smooth out fat bulges so women can look better in their clothes. Yet to demo this product they use a woman with an absolutely flawless body, including a perfectly flat stomach. Check out the woman wearing the black bra and panties:

That woman has no fat bulges on her midriff. I have more need for the Kymaro Body Shaper than she does!

It is, however, reassuring to know that the Kymaro Body Shaper prevents “irritating boning”—a problem so many women complain about.

Infomercials have used plenty of “before and after” pictures to demonstrate the effectiveness of their products, but I’ve never seen one quite as drastic this:

I guess the product they are advertising, Dermitage, doesn’t just reduce wrinkles—it actually transforms the Creature from the Black Lagoon into a human being!

Usually “before and after photos” have the before on the left and the after on the right. So people might misinterpret this and assume the product will turn your face into a leathery relief map of the American southwest.

One disappointing thing about this ad is the words that say “simulated imagery.” So you mean that Dermitage won’t actually turn my mummy into a beautiful model? Can now any two pictures be used for a before and after comparison as long as the words “simulated imagery” are included somewhere?

Hat tip: Ashley Halsey who found this ad on the MSNBC website.

After hearing second-hand reports about the Magic Bullet to Go infomercial for months, I have finally seen it for myself. And let me tell you it was well worth the wait!

The Magic Bullet to Go infomercial is a sequel to the original infomercial for the Magic Bullet. Mick is back. Mimi is back. Hazel is back. Berman is back. Tina is back (and that is in fact the name of the easily amazed blonde who went unnamed in the previous infomercial). Plus there are new and interesting characters as well.

I will be posting a full review complete with video clips soon. I will say now that Hazel is even more of a hideous sea hag in the Magic to Bullet Go infomercial than she was in the Original Magic Bullet infomercial!

If you’ve ever searched the Web for information about Internet-based business you’ve probably come across ads for “The Rich Jerk.” The Rich Jerk is both the name and the mascot of a system that teaches you how to make money online.

The Rich Jerk has also aired TV infomercials. Upon seeing them my first thought was: It’s Deja Tom Vu all over again. Or maybe it’s the Tom Vu infomercial with silicone.

See for yourself:

So is The Rich Jerk the second coming of Tommy Vu? Let’s compare their similarities:

1. Brandishing of Expensive Cars and Mansions

2. Surrounded by Hot Chicks in Bikikis

3. Insulting their Potential Customers

Both try to shame their potential customers into getting their products—although the insults are a lot more important to the Rich Jerk’s persona than they ever were to Tom Vu’s.

Tom Vu taunted his viewers by declaring that if you are not willing to attend his seminar “you deserve to be broke.”

The Rich Jerk taunts his customers with mottos such as “I’m better than you” and “His life is awesome. Your life sucks.”

Yet for all the superficial resemblances between the two money-making gurus, I would have to conclude that The Rich Jerk is NOT the second coming of Tom Vu.

First of all, The Rich Jerk is obviously an invented persona not unlike Tony the Tiger or Ronald McDonald (although I can’t remember any commercial in which Ronald McDonald strutted into a McDonald’s Playland and told the kids that they suck). Tuan “Tommy” Vu on the other hand is a real person and he used his life story and pictures from his refugee past to prove it.

An even more important difference is that—in true postmodern fashion—The Rich Jerk act is a big joke and everyone is in on it. The viewers and potential customers all know how over the top it all is—and the creators of the ads know that they know it. In this video the scripted attempts at humor are obvious:

Although many people may have laughed at the Tom Vu infomercial, Vu clearly wanted his viewers to take what they were seeing seriously. He expected the horny losers to really and sincerely believe that they could get the mansions and babes if they would only attend Vu’s real estate seminar.

If you laugh at the Rich Jerk infomercial, you are laughing with him. If you laugh at the Tom Vu infomercial, you are laughing at him.

That’s why The Rich Jerk is not Deja Tom Vu all over again.