THE BEST TV COMMERCIAL?

I thought I'd play my favorite current TV commercial (above), the one by Telebrands for a product called "ShamWow!" I'm guessing that this is just a polyester sponge cloth, the kind you can buy at any discount store for a dollar, but they're selling eight of them for 20 bucks plus postage and handling. You can decry the commercialism, but I hope you'll love the commercial. It's a fine example of the pitchman's art.

What kills me about this is that it doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is: hardsell. The announcer looks like the kind of sleazy fast-talker who sells vegetable cutters at carnivals. You wouldn't think anybody would trust a guy like that, but they do. Why? I think it's because people react to the skill in the writing and execution of carnival pitches. You think you're above it, but you're not. It's fun to watch a man who, using only words, can invest a product with magic.




One of the best TV pitchman is Billy Mays (above), who's famous for shouting at the audience. He has a terrific graphic look and a likable face, and the writing and editing of his commercials is superb. Nobody gets up to get a cheese sandwich when Billy's on.



I assume Mays also works for Telebrands, which seems to be the new Ronco. Telebrands never attempts to sell high-ticket items like insurance and cars. Instead it sells glue, closet lights, picture hooks (above), and the like. TV ads are probably most effective when they sell things like that. You want to sell something that's cheap and accessible. If I had a show on TV I'd kill to be sponsored by something basic like hooks. To sell a hook you have be creative, put on a show, add value to the product by stimulating the viewer's imagination.



Here's (above) Billy reading his voice-over lines in a recording studio. When you hear him speak without the distraction of art direction, you realize what a talent he really is.



Here's (above) another great TV pitchman, Anthony Sullivan. I wish I could have put up his "One Sweep" commercial, which is one of the stand-out hardsell commercials of the last five or ten years.

The clip above is about a minute and a half long, and I warn you that it starts slow and you'll be tempted not to finish it. RESIST THAT TEMPTATION! Watch the whole thing! He finally gets the line right at the end, and when he does you'll realize that he's well worth the zillion dollars they probably payed him.


This one is for serious students of film only. It's a ShamWow commercial re-named (now calles "Zorbeez") and done a whole different way by Billy Mays. It's a rare chance to study how two different masters tackle the identical problem.

Both commercials are great, but I prefer the ShamWow. The name is catchier, it focuses on the the character and his performance, the testimonials make a great counterpoint, and the beware of imitations warning plants the idea that the product is worth imitating. Billy's commercial starts with an unappealing wiping motion and attempts too many arguments. Even so, I still like it. Which do you prefer?



One final commercial for serious film students only: A recent softsell paper towel commercial for the purpose of comparison with the hardsell ShamWow and Zorbeez commercials. As you can see, the hardsell works better.