It was reminiscent of the Japanese artform Chingoku that champions useless inventions.
I was nudged out of my trance when they presented an unusual vacuum-seal product which encourages one to vacuum-pack clothes for greater wardrobe space. Almost as soon as I ordered the brochure for the trampoline I was considering the Thermopot electricity-free cooker (great for caravaning, even though we don't have a caravan). Buying the Reading Master system for my daughter was a no-brainer - it remains in the box, unread. I snapped up the titanium drill bits, which allegedly drill through absolutely any surface (our household has many different surfaces), and the Rapid Roller system for easy paint application (should I ever want to paint something). During one 30-minute feed I bought a bunch of diverse items that oddly I had never before deemed essential. And it was thus that I succumbed to the hypnotic power of the infomercial. Still revelling in the novelty of being a stay-at-home mum, I spend much time nursing baby in front of TV, waiting for Oprah. And for me, the tables have turned, as I find myself becoming one of the consumers I thought never existed - square-eyed and helpless prey to the lure of the infomercial. But now the not-so-humble infomercial has reached a level of sophistication that makes it not only socially acceptable but also downright compelling.
Then we laughed as Suzanne Paul's common-as-muck accent and luminous spheres became almost iconic. At first we ignored infomercials, as it was thought consumers would not like or trust the direct hard-sell tactics. In the many years I worked within the advertising industry, my colleagues and I dismissed infomercials as poor cousins to the real McCoy - an irritating, cheap and nasty alternative that refused to go away.
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