20 Hilariously Iconic As Seen on TV Products and the Memories They Made

Infomercial nostalgia occupies a specific cultural category because it is shared across a remarkably wide demographic range. The products spanned income levels, age groups, and cable subscriptions, and the one thing they had in common was a host who treated the demonstration not as a sales pitch but as a revelation. The Ronco Showtime Rotisserie and its tagline, “Set it and forget it,” delivered by Ron Popeil with the serenity of someone who has genuinely solved a problem and wants everyone to know, is one of the most complete pieces of late-night television ever produced. The rotisserie worked. The chickens were golden. The tagline entered the language. Ron Popeil understood the assignment.

Retro TV products earned their place in cultural memory through a combination of genuine innovation, spectacular overclaiming, and the particular magic of the 1-800 number appearing onscreen at the exact moment the viewer had been worn down to the point of commitment. The Clapper is the gallery’s second certified legend, because it did exactly what it said, which was allow you to turn your lights on and off by clapping, a thing that no one needed and everyone who had it used constantly for approximately two weeks before discovering that the same result could be achieved by walking three feet. The product was not the functionality. The product was the clap. People wanted to clap their lights off and The Clapper understood that.

The fitness category of the infomercial era deserves its own complete appreciation, because it represents the most optimistic period in the history of home exercise equipment. The Abdomenizer was going to firm the stomach. The Bowflex was going to transform the body. P90X2 was going to produce results in ninety days if the commitment was total, which it was going to be this time, which it absolutely was going to be starting Monday. The equipment was purchased. The commitment was real and genuine and lasted until approximately the third week of February, at which point the equipment began its second career as a very expensive place to drape clothing. This is not a failure of the products. This is a documentation of the human relationship with January as a concept.

The MyPillow and the Ped Egg Power represent the infomercial category that targeted a very specific 2 AM vulnerability, which is the person who is tired and slightly uncomfortable and will respond to the suggestion that both of those things can be resolved with a single purchase. The MyPillow offered transcendent sleep, described in terms that suggested the current pillow situation was the only thing standing between the viewer and complete physical restoration. The Ped Egg Power addressed the callus situation with a level of engineering commitment that the callus situation had never previously received. Both products exist in the category of things that seemed extremely reasonable at 2 AM and were reviewed with slightly more skepticism in daylight.

The Proactiv ad and the aerobics instructor with the sequined tank and the LED floor are the gallery’s reminder that the infomercial was also a performance, and the performance was always sincere. The energy was real. The belief was real. The celebrities endorsing the skincare system believed in the skincare system, or performed belief so convincingly that the distinction became irrelevant at midnight. There is something genuinely admirable about that level of commitment to a three-step cleansing routine.