Want a piece of inauguration pie, but can't make it to DC this month? Home shopping network QVC is headed to Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration and will be hawking all the coins, stamps, jewelry, and even a small handbag to Obama fanatics live from the heart of the action.
The network has sold more than 100,000 items related to Obama's election and says it sees the inauguration as an opportunity to reach beyond the usual political collectibles crowd.
QVC will air portions of the parade and conduct interviews with the crowd, then put on a special show on the night of inauguration from the Creative Coalition's inaugural ball in an attempt to sell items like this commeorative Obama throw. What I want to know is who is going to be watching QVC on inauguration night?
Alexander McQueen
Peacocks
American Vintage
They must feel there is a base audience that will watch and looking at the numbers in the article tells me there's a whole weird tv shopping world I don't know about.
1I lOVE watching the QVC, its entertaining tv for sure! people will buy ANYTHING, i swear if its touted as "amazing" and "we have 100 units left!" and I LIVE for the calls "hi, im debbie from Minneapolis and i bought those Lycra leopard tights with the bedazzled bottoms and all my friends wanted to know where i got them!"
People are going to try to cash in on the Obama love with products on there, its the american way. I would only buy one if the Sham-Wow came with it.
2Oh please. Do they sell his hair when he gets it cut too?
3That Sham-Wow guy frightens me.
4Doh!
5Then again, I bid on Saw movie memorabilia on eBay, so.... yeah.
6Oh crap! I would have to watch if Vince Offer was pushing 1/20/09 merchandise.
7This seems a little tacky but they will probably make a killing.
8I have watched QVC a few times, and all the callers sound like they are in their 70s, and they are always buying two--"one for me, and one for my mother".
9And by the way, that sham-wow guy makes such a convincing case for parting with $19.99. Anybody ever buy those things??
10Oh QVC you are simply amazing.
11i don't care for QVC, i think its tacky to sell memorabilia
12Vince says: Stop having a boring life, with the SLAP CHOP! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbWjIKxrrs (for those who love infomercials and the creepy Sham-Wow guy)
I don't want to cry anymore, Vince...
13I swear, the Sham Wow guy is haunting me! He is everywhere I turn these days! We talked about him at lunch last week, they talked about him on the radio this morning, now this! I really hope the guy gets more compensation than the non-union $$ they probably gave him. He now has a cult following, and their product name is infamous because of his...skills.
Work it, Mr. Wow.
14Ha! Mr. Wow actually has a real name, and an interesting history! From Wikipedia...so it might not be factual.
Vince Offer
In 1999 Offer released the Underground Comedy Movie to scathing and extremely negative reviews. Lawrence Van Gelder of the New York Times described the movie as "a series of sketches built around subjects like masturbation, defecation, alienation, urination, necrophilia, voyeurism, casual brutality and mockery of the unfortunate." He added that Offer "makes the common mistake of equating the recognition of comic potential for comedy itself. For the successful, talent bridges the gap, but here it is absent."[1] DVDs of the film were marketed via television infomercial.
The film also generated several lawsuits. Offer filed a copyright-infringement suit against Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Twentieth Century Fox, claiming that 14 scenes in There's Something About Mary were taken from his own film. The Farrelly brothers responded, "We've never heard of him, we've never heard of his movie, and it's all a bunch of baloney." In addition, Offer sued Anna Nicole Smith for breach of contract, alleging that Smith had agreed to appear in Underground Comedy Movie but backed out, claiming it would hurt her career.
In 2004, Offer, an ex-Scientologist, sued the Church of Scientology, alleging it had declared him a criminal and had urged its members to "write false and malicious reports against him." Offer claimed that the church's action against him caused him to lose a successful business, as many of his employees were Scientologists who quit upon learning of the church's actions.
Offer appeared on infomercials for his movie and also sold kitchen utensils at a swap meet. Currently he is featured as a spokesman in a commercial for ShamWow! absorbent towels that began airing in the spring of 2008. Offer's work on the ad received some comment in the media. Slate.com's Seth Stevenson praised Offer for his "impressive and subtle mastery of the pitchman's art" and wondered if Offer's "abrasive manner might also mark a unique, new strategy in the annals of pitchdom." Stevenson compared Offer to earlier, "more upbeat" television pitchmen like Billy Mays and the Home Shopping Network hosts and concluded that Offer's "smooth-talking condescension" was more suited to the present zeitgeist than the "earnest fervor" of spokesmen like Mays and Ron Popeil.
15That's so funny Jill!
16SHAM WOW!
No seriously I would like an OBAMA DIORAMA by the Quacker Factory please. And I want the Obama figure to wearing action slacks and "I'm in control" sportcoat. Like Bryant Gumbel only less bitter and put upon.
17I kind of love the ShamWow guy. Why does he need that headset? Is he friends with the OxyClean guy? Was he the real-life inspiration behind the preliminary sketches for Moe the Bartender on the Simpsons?
18(BTW--does the ShamWow work really well?)
19I don't know how the actual ShamWow works, but we have a few "Absorbers" around (http://www.amazon.com/Absorber-Synthetic-Drying-Chamois-27/dp/B0000AY69V). They are pretty awesome, we got them to use at a fundraising carwash and everyone wanted to know what they were. They sound the same as the ShamWow- think they came from Walmart, like $12.
20Don't be fooled by imitators!!!! Sham-Wow is amazing. No really, I use it for when my kids spill stuff on my carpet. I had my carpet replaced about a year ago and the stuff that remains in the pad is so disgusting. No wonder my stains always kept coming back. That's all I use it for, but it does work well.
21With all the memorabilia, I don't see it being worth anything down the line. Say in the collector frame of mind. But as a private citizen, if you are moved by the moment and just have to have that little piece of him, I say go for it. Should keep the economy rolling.
22I have an Absorber and it's really nice. I usually use it AFTER I get my car washed, since they never get every nook and cranny.
I should get the Sham-Wow and do a comparison study!
Hain you just cracked me up with your testimonial
23
Hain! Thanks for the info!
24
What a wacky biography that guys has. A former Scientologist suing Anna Nicole Smith? That's
for sharing Jillness. That was interesting.
25Billy Mayes haunts me Jill. Every time I flip the stinking channels you need OxyClean or Mighty Putty or Sham or Bamm or Kazamm or whatever else he hocks.
OxyClean is some pretty good stuff though. I bought one for me and one for my mother.
26My dad bought all of men in the family a ShamWow. I'm totally jealous that I didn't find one in my Christmas stocking. So far my husband hasn't used him. I'll be sure to report back once he has.
Regarding the QVC special, I don't have cable so I won't be enjoying this amazing piece of work.
27They should definitely include some totally unrelated small object with every purchase. That's how TV shopping works!
28haha yeah my intention was to sound as much like a testimonial on tv, guess it worked.
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