Infomercials

[Xyandar]

Infomercials... Who needs them. They are EVERYWHERE and all talk about stuff that we never care about! They are especially on childrens channels like YTV and Teletoon. It confuses me why they would be on these channels when we just want to watch our shows and cant get any of the stuff on there anyway lol.

Does anyone seriously buy anything that they see on tv?? Do people see these "lose 50 lbs in 10 days" things and go WOW I WANT TO CALL THEM AND BUY THAT???? I never and I mean NEVER met anyone who has ever ordered stuff. Its so funy watching the infomercial talkshows where people talk about when they bought it and why and how it changed their lives. Meanwhile before the infomercial gets recorded they pick random people, stick them in a car, pretend they have guns and tell them they are going to be tellin them how good it is lol.

I personally think Infomercials should GO... or at least leave the children channels alone. I can understand seeing an educational or toyish infomercial but when there is "Boflex" and "Careers Searching" things, its useless for that channel. lol

Tell me whats on your mind about them.

[Pagan]

I must agree with you. Infomercials are boring and time consuming, but they do have a slight purpose though miniscule it is. They provide a quick and easy way to get stuff without even leaving your house. My grandparents are old and live quite a long distance from a Walmart so they have to use infomercials to get junk. Ok I've lost all point in my argument. They are pointless and will soon be replaced by the internet which is much faster and cheaper. I guess the TV networks will need to find a new way to make quick money because the infomercials are going the way of the dinosaur.

[Sir Kyle]

Well, think about it. Sure, most of the stuff isn't gonna change your life and most of the stuff they are trying to sell isn't anything you absolutely need.

But to show these infomercials, the company that is selling their wares needs to pay the network to show their infomercial on TV. They don't get to show it for free and it's not like the network is showing them just to piss people off. They get revenue off of this which is essential for the network to stay on air and to keep showing the shows you like to watch.

Also, it's not like they're showing them at inapproriate times or anything. I'd say the majority of infomercials are shown at really late or really early hours where most of the networks regular viewers aren't tuned in anymore so it would be fruitless to show something of their's when no one's watching anyway.

Basically, in my opinion, infomercials are not as bad as you are making them seem. They are needed by some networks to drive the revenue to allow them to actually stay on the air and are also needed for the companies showing the infomercials to sell their product. Believe it or not, there ARE people who buy the things on TV and the overgeneralization that "no one buys that stuff" is false. If no one bought it, there wouldn't be any informercials because they'd all be bankrupt. As long as there is a market, there will be companies that sell stuff, and there will be infomercials that pay networks to air their stuff.

It all comes together in the end and it's not as stupid and useless as some think they are (though some products really stretch that limit.)

[Guest cloricus]

The whole idea must have come from a /. nerd...

1) Annoy people with ads
2) ???
3) PROFIT!!!

Though the maths is easy, if an idiot is born every minute and three people are born a second that is one stupid person to one hundred and eighty smart people, now that is nearly .6% of people but of course we know it's higher than that. So if one percent of people answer a infomercial out of all the millions watching the people showing it make money for relatively little out lay, and a lot of it. The same happens for email spam, we get bombarded with it even though there is only one or two percent of the total net population that answers and buys off them.

So yeah; if you buy off the TV and or email (or other form of spam) you are pissing off the rest of us because you are the reason that this market exists.

[Sara]

[size=1]If you hate infomercials, how desperate must you be to watch them? You're not forced to watch TV, you know.

A couple summers ago, my brother and sister and I would watch them sometimes. It was a lot of fun, actually. They're so easy to make fun of, and goofing off and parodying them is a blast.

I think it's so funny how the hosts actually have to act enthusiastic about whatever product they're trying to sell. Then again, they are getting paid for it...

I think I would make a good informercial host. Heh.

One amusing thing to do is take bets on what the price is going to be. They never seem to tell you until the very end, so it can be pretty interesting. I've had some detailed debates as to whether they should charge 19.99 or 29.95 for a product. Granted, it was a lazy summer afternoon, and all parties were bored out of their minds...but still.

At least we only watched them because we could get amusement out of it. Why you would watch them if you didn't enjoy them....and then complain about them...is beyond me.[/size]

[Semjaza]

Informercials are only on either very early or very late. Ocassionally I see one on at lunch time. Just do something else at those times or stay in bed. Other than that, PBS does money grabbing TV breaks... but they have no other way to get extra money lol. No big deal.

Personally, I like infomercials because they're so ridiculous. George Foreman Grills, knives cutting copper pipes and spray-on hair... it's all fun to watch. I especially love the ones where there is a crowd and they yell "SET IT AND FORGET IT!!!!!" Man, they sure are enthsiastic. I think they care more about that little rotisserie oven than I care about most things that should actually be important to me heh.

[Patronus]

I absolutely [i]dispise[/i] infomercials. They're so phony and don't offer anything that us non-lazy persons can use. And it also marks one-time super stars that can't get good work.

[amibasuki]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel]
Personally, I like infomercials because they're so ridiculous. George Foreman Grills, knives cutting copper pipes and spray-on hair... it's all fun to watch. I especially love the ones where there is a crowd and they yell "SET IT AND FORGET IT!!!!!" Man, they sure are enthsiastic. I think they care more about that little rotisserie oven than I care about most things that should actually be important to me heh.[/QUOTE][font=Arial][size=3][size=2]:mrt:..[/size][size=1]no wait, wrong person... [/size]watching those George Foreman Grill infomercials always made me want to buy a cheeseburger. not buy something to make my own cheeseburgers with. [/size][/font]

[font=Arial][size=3]the thing that's always aggravating about when they try to sell you stuff like that (including on those minute-long advertisements where you "Call Toll Free!") is when they say you get two or three other items along with your original purchase, "totalling to be a $70 value, absolutely FREE!" I'm like, bullcrap. I could get all that at Dollar General for under 10 bucks. and you know all that stuff they're trying to sell you probably came straight from the dollar store anyway. bleh.[/size][/font]