Child of the 1980's - Daytime Television Infomercials

                In this day of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and extremely advance video game consoles children who get sick and have to stay home from school are quite likely to have a lot of outlets for entertainment during their recovery.  Thirty years ago during the decade of the 1980’s it was a much different story.  Sure if you were lucky you might have had access to a Nintendo Entertainment System, but I know that my time on it during sickness was limited.  My mother would make sure that I pretty much stayed in bed if I was sick.  That ruled out the NES as there was only so far the controllers would reach out. 

                What it left me was the television.  Granted by the mid-80’s many households had cable which gave more choices in terms of what to watch.  Still, the television broadcast during typical school hours was severely lacking in anything of substance.  It was during the 1980’s that a new sort of program began to pop up.  This would be the paid advertisement program known as the infomercial.  It was typically a half-hour long showcase of some ‘must-have’ product which would revolutionize the world.  Very rarely would that happen.  In addition there were many new products running in shorter advertisements that fell into the ‘as seen on TV’ variety which is all too common today.  Thirty-plus years ago infomercials and television-exclusive products were new and I guess exciting.  So let’s take a trip down memory lane with some of the greatest hits of 1980’s infomercials and television-exclusive products.

                One product that immediately comes to mind when I think of my sick days in the 1980’s has to be the Life Call.  Who could forget the image of the elderly Mrs. Fletcher lying on her side next to her tipped over walker screaming into her Life Call “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”  By pressing the button on the alert necklace police and rescue would be called and sent out to the person in need.  This product came about in the late 1980’s and a similar product still exists today under the name Life Alert.

                Another classic which is still around today is the Chia Pet.  A ceramic follower pot basically, shaped like anything from a sheep to a human head, in which you could grow chia seeds which sprouted like hair/fur through the chosen pot.  Surely any child of the 1980’s, or any since cannot think of a Chia Pet and not immediately think “Ch-ch-ch-chia!”  Though it was invented in 1977 it hit its stride in the 80’s and as of 2007 it was reported that more than 500,000 Chia Pets were sold annually, during the holidays alone.

In a bit of lightning striking twice the same company which came up with the Chia Pet also came up with another 1980’s classic The Clapper.  “Clap On! Clap Off!”  The product, which debuted in 1985, was a sensor outlet that responded to your clapping, or other very loud stimulus causing whatever was plugged in through the special outlet to switch on or off.  It led to some hilariously 80’s commercials and is still available today.

A trip down the infomercial memory lane wouldn’t be complete without Ginsu Knives.  Though the word ginsu means nothing it was meant to sound Asian, as if related to the Japanese samurai sword as far as sharpness went.  It debuted in the first half of the 20^th century but became well known through a series of ads which began in 1978.  They were a success and Ginsu sold between two and three million units by 1984.  The main selling point was how sharp the knives were and how they would never dull.  The ads would show the knives cutting through various items like nails, tin cans, and a radiator hose.  These are also still available today.

Some honorable mentions for a possible followup post include: Thighmaster, Mr. Microphone,  Saladmaster Cookware, Smokeless Ashtray, Sweatin’ to the Oldies, etc.

Come on back for some more crazy but true stories from the 1980’s!  Click here to check out my last blog when I first discovered Movies Are Not Real.