But Wait! There's More!

"Who can forget the Pocket Fisherman, the Veg-O-Matic or the Smokeless Ashtray? The Popeil family brought America those amazing products and more, all for ridiculously low prices -- 'if you act now!'"

In this report from Morning Edition (6/19/02 - 6:38), we learn more about Ron Popeil, called the Einstein of the Infomercial, from Timothy Samuelson, author of But Wait! There's More.

Musings

• What's the appeal of the products that Popeil sells, of Popeil himself? (For a list of products, and more on Popeil himself, see Wikipedia.) Why do we seem attracted to such blatant showmanship, even when we know better? Or put another way, imagine a world without Ron Popeil and the Veg-O-Matic--what would we gain, and lose?
  
  
• Describe your own experience with gadget or anything else you may have purchased on impulse.