As seen on TV. Some things I think I will pass!

February 1 2010


Most stores now days have the infamous “As Seen on TV” aisle now. Anything that has ever been hawked on the TV screen is now available in your local stores for the same low price that those loud mouth guys on the infomercials are trying to get you to buy for! Without the shipping and handling!

For some unknown reason when I am in a store working, I have a clear shot at the “As Seen on TV” aisle. It’s just the luck of the draw but I can stand in one place doing my job for about and hour and see all manner of people that are drawn to that aisle like a moth to a flame. Now I am not laughing at anyone about this because I always make that trip myself.

Several years ago I was watching a little late night television and all of a sudden the Turbo Cooker appeared. I drooled over that amazing thing. But I was not about to pay what they were asking for it on the TV so I forgot about it. Until a couple of years later and Mom and I were in Wal-Mart Christmas shopping and there was a new aisle….’As Seen on TV” ……..a whole aisle of things to look at and there sat the Turbo Cooker. Mom looked at and I looked at it and we just grinned. Pay dirt! She gave me one and I have to admit that is the most used item in my kitchen. That thing is amazing and I use it all the time; when I choose to cook that is. It’s huge and bulky and won’t fit in my cabinets but I love it.

The next amazing item I happened to purchase was those fit over HD glasses. I found myself over in Amory one day and I lost my sunglasses. I have to have ‘fit overs’ because I wear glasses and I prefer the kind that blocks light coming in from the side. They look funny but I prefer driving with my eyes open. So there I was in Amory and the sun was brutal and those HD wrap around sunglasses were on the As Seen on TV shelf. I bought them and that was the best thing I could have done. They really do help not just with sunlight but during dusk and when the evening light is just a bit strange and you don’t really see those pesky deer; these crazy things help you see the deer.

Now there are snuggies which I see being bought up by the buggy loads, and twin draft guards (another of my purchases and I love that one too!), and the space bags which we love in our closets but they sometimes do lose the seal and all of a sudden your closet doors will pop open and those vacuum sealed clothes and linens will cover you like an avalanche of snow!

I introduced space bags to our two exchange students last year when they were trying to pack all of their things to go to their home countries. It was amazing what all we got back in their luggage. But it sure was super heavy and they had to pay a lot to get their luggage on the airplanes.

So far this year I have resisted the urge to buy the ‘Toasty Toes” foot warmers, the “Point and Paint” painting system and the “Sliders” cooking kit. Then there is the “Caulk like a Pro kit” for the do it yourselfers and the Puppy Poopie Patch. Dogs just LOVE to ‘go’ on it! I will pass on that last one.

I have noticed that some shoppers just like to look at the products and read the packages. And some, like me actually find something that is worth using. Then there are those that are specifically looking for a certain thing. I was working in a store in a college town recently when a huge group of college kids came in and they asked me where the ‘As Seen on TV’ aisle was. I pointed them in the right direction and then I stood there and observed them. I have no clue what they were doing but they stood and looked over the vast collection of unique items for a good half hour and then they made their selections, paid for them and left.

Now part of me wondered if it was something for a marketing class and then I wondered if it was to get gag gifts. But again maybe, just maybe they found something as useful as my turbo cooker.