As someone who has spent countless hours in front of the television during the ’80s and early ’90s, I can vividly recall the mesmerizing allure of those late-night infomercials. From Flowbees to Booty Pops, these products promised to solve life’s most pressing problems with a simple click of the remote control.
Picture this: It’s dead of night, and you can’t sleep due to insomnia, living in an era before the advent of streaming services. All you have is basic cable for entertainment. In the heart of the night, what do you find on basic cable? A multitude of infomercials.
Infomercials, with their enthusiastic hosts showcasing unique products supposedly solving made-up problems, were once very popular, especially on channels like QVC. Many questionable items were promoted this way, such as the Snuggie, a blanket with armholes. Here are five of the most ridiculous and unlikely purchases from infomercials, including deceptive exercise equipment and a headache remedy that could potentially cause more pain.
HeadOn
According to the HeadOn infomercial, there’s one essential fact about this product that you should know: “HeadOn! Apply it directly to your forehead!” (In case you’re unsure where your forehead is, the ad also features an arrow pointing straight to the model’s own forehead.) This commercial, which repetitively emphasizes this single statement, was not confined to late-night broadcasting. In 2006, it aired at all hours, even during regular programming, causing annoyance for many viewers; it seems as though they deliberately made the ad as annoying as possible to give you a headache that could be alleviated by the headache-relieving stick, which is said to work through homeopathic methods.
The HeadOn advertisement stands out for its puzzling absence of product details, its overly loud volume with no apparent reason, and its overall strange nature. It’s not surprising that it was satirized by shows like The Daily Show back then. If watching the HeadOn commercial gave you a headache, I hope you reached for some pain relievers instead of applying what appears to be a glue stick “directly to your forehead.
Shake Weight
Hey there! You know that iconic fitness gadget, the Shake Weight? It’s been joked about everywhere, from “South Park” to “Saturday Night Live,” even making a cameo in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Basically, it’s a dumbbell designed for an unusual motion that some might find… suggestive.
A 2013 article in Business Insider reported findings from a study published in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. The study revealed that using a Shake Weight, as demonstrated in infomercials, does not stimulate muscle activity any more than regular dumbbells. Furthermore, the study suggested that individuals who followed the prescribed Shake Weight exercise routines did not perform enough work to enhance muscle strength. Despite its popularity, the Shake Weight is an item that may be gathering dust in your closet if you own one and haven’t used it.
Flowbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm2nQ4Er93A
In the late 1980s, it seemed that consumers were yearning for more at-home haircut solutions. That’s when the Flowbee entered the scene, claiming to be “the superior vacuum haircutting system available” on its official website (yes, it’s still around!). While it’s debatable how many rivals there truly were, let’s move on. People could either opt for a dedicated Mini Vac Flowbee or connect it to their existing vacuums. Once set up, users would utilize a component called the “cutting head” to trim their hair. The outcome, as showcased in the original ’80s ad, is quite bizarre, as you can tell from the image provided.
Flowbees are one of the most famous examples of a “silly infomercial product,” but in 2020, a major Hollywood superstar revealed he’s been cutting his own hair with this dubious machine for decades. In late 2020, George Clooney told CBS Sunday Morning that he’s been using a Flowbee on his own hair for over twenty years. “Years ago, I bought a thing called a Flowbee,” Clooney revealed. “It comes with a vacuum cleaner and the clippers? Yeah, I still have it! My haircuts take literally two minutes.” After confirming that his haircut is, in fact, a “Flowbee special, Clooney continued, “Yeah, that’s Flowbee! Listen, man, it works. Now, you know … I wouldn’t do it to my wife.” Clooney also said his haircuts with the device take “two minutes,” so if it works for him, then that’s great. You might not get the same result as an A-list movie star, though.
Booty Pop
Have you ever slipped into a pair of jeans and felt like there was something not quite right about your backside? If that’s you, then perhaps what you need is a Booty Pop – a pocket-sized boost that adds just the right amount of lift and pizzazz to your behind. (Unfortunately, as I write this, all the options on big retailers like Amazon are listed as “currently unavailable” and the official Booty Pop website seems to be out of order.)
Anyway, it feels like there are a lot of options you could try if you have this made-up “problem” instead of the seemingly defunct Booty Pop — which is basically just one of those stupid hair “Bump It” hair insert for your derriere. You could get jeans that fit better. You could do squats. You could stop obsessing over whether your booty pops, if you happen to be fixating on that. Don’t buy a Booty Pop. Once again, it doesn’t seem like you can anymore — which is for the best.
GLH Canned Hair
Balding happens, and if you’re affected by it, you might seek out any number of options to hide signs of thinning hair. You know what you shouldn’t seek out? Spray-on hair.
Though it seems like a product that can only be described as “canned hair” might be out of vogue these days, you’d be mistaken; in 2018, Vox ran an article about spray-on hair products after Stephen Miller, then an adviser to former President Donald Trump, seemed to be donning it at a press conference. The outlet specifically names the biggest brand from the 1990s, which itself was the subject of plenty of infomercials: “‘Spray-on hair’ is a misnomer because the modern iteration is not technically a spray at all — the most commonly used hair fill-in product today is fiber powder that you sprinkle on your head to thicken existing hair and add more density. But this temporary hair loss solution (used by makeup artists and regular consumers alike!) is still called spray-on hair colloquially thanks to a brand called GLH, which is short for Good Looking Hair.”
Regardless of whether the original GLH product still works effectively today, it’s significant that GLH, a brand known for its infomercials, was one of the first versions of this type of product, which appears inadequate (and, honestly, unappealing to use). It’s not unreasonable to think that “spray-on hair,” despite its name, might not be the best option at all.
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2024-09-07 22:00