Infomercials

We have all seen an infomercial at one time or another – usually those nights where you just can’t seem to fall asleep. The thing I enjoy most about infomercials are the “before” takes, the clips that show how gosh darn difficult it is to use an every day product. These clips are meant to show how much easier it is to use the wonderful product being sold. Take the “Touch n Brush” for example, its meant to help dispense the toothpaste without making a mess, but its just ridiculous. I have never squeezed out half the tube when trying to put toothpaste on my toothbrush. I find infomercials to have qualities of unfair persuasion for this reason. They exaggerate the difficulty of one thing, in order to make the item they want to sell more appealing.  Of course, I cannot deny the power infomercials have in selling their products – Snuggies are incredibly popular (I work in retail, and am always having people come in to buy them). So they are able to persuade consumers, but is it really necessary to exaggerate the every day products rather then rely on the great qualities of the product they want to sell?