But Wait ... There's More!

January 12, 2009
In this lively exposé, journalist Stern dissects the direct-response marketing business (which includes both infomercials and home shopping networks), a $300 billion industry, larger than the film, music and video game industries combined. There's guilty-pleasure revelations aplenty: how the traditional sales pitch adapted to a televisual format by, for example, real-time number tracking that allows network officials to tell on-air talent, through tiny earpieces, that, say, twirling a piece of jewelry around a finger causes sales to spike and how hosts persuade Americans to buy products like the Inside-the-Shell Electric Egg Scrambler, Power Scissors, the Miracle Broom and, of course, the most successful on-air product to date, the celebrity-driven skin-care regime Proactiv. There's psychology here, too: the author describes the mindset of the typical late-night tired consumer, falling for tricks they wouldn't necessarily fall for in a store. Stern is the perfect host to this slightly seedy world, well-informed and “transfixed by the zany nature of it all.”

February 1, 2009
This is a popular history of the infomercial industry spanning from the traveling medicine shows of the 19th century to the Proactiv commercials of today. Stern certainly did his homework, from enduring a 24-hour home shopping marathon to meeting some "famous" infomercial personalities in their own homes. The upshot: everything we ever assumed about infomercials is true, and therein is the problem. This book doesn't reveal anything that isn't obvious with a little common sense. The actual mechanics of infomercial selling, such as the psychology being used and the logistics of these chimerical organizations, is only alluded to. A tell-all about bizarre pitchmen and unrepentant profiteers should be rife with fascinating, lurid tales but Stern only hints at the dark underbelly of the industry, while focusing the bulk of his attention on the relatively pedestrian histories of the Popeil family and the QVC company. An easy read sure to trigger a few nostalgic moments for anyone who has suffered from a little insomnia, this book is recommended for public libraries.Robert Perret, Univ. of Idaho Lib., Moscow

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