Saturday, November 24, 2007

A Bad Infomercial Equals Good Comedy

This is a totally ridiculous post -- I'll admit that up front. But when I ran across this while surfing the net, I couldn't help but link it to my blog, if for no other reason than the fact that I read it and busted a gut laughing.

I'm sure many of you have seen the informercial for that ridiculous "Magic Bullet" kitchen contraption; I've seen it several times -- in fact, A. used to poke fun at me for wanting to watch it every time I ran across it (or watch it at least until the point where Hazel says, "Dinner. Yeah, that's always a production."). Despite the frequent viewings, however, I never took the time to analyze it. Now, I found someone who has, and it's absolutely hysterical. Here are the first two paragraphs from their review, followed by the link for the complete article. Enjoy!

The Magic Bullet is a miniature blender that gets lauded on its infomercial as the "Personal, Versatile Countertop Magician"—a description that must have polled better in focus groups than the more accurate "Cuisinart for Hookers."

Most infomercials are content merely to demonstrate their products and parade an endless number of testimonials. The infomercial for the Magic Bullet, however, is unusual in that it sets up a scenario in which the action is supposed to take place. The events of the Magic Bullet infomercial occur in the morning aftermath of some vaguely-described "barbecue" held the day before by a perky blonde named Mimi and her Aussie husband Mick. One by one Mick and Mimi's guests awake from their slumbers and stumble into the kitchen. As the party-goers struggle to recover from their hangovers and recall what they did with their wedding rings, Mick and Mimi provide entertainment. That entertainment consists of watching Mick and Mimi use the Magic Bullet to prepare food. After all, why hire a magician to perform at your party when you've already paid for a "personal countertop magician." So the Magic Bullet is no mere food processor: It actually turns your house into Benihana's! In addition, Mick delights his yuppie guests by using wonderfully cockney expressions such as "Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt"—which is almost as much fun as watching him grind coffee beans.

Read the complete entry for "The Magic Bullet" here.

7 comments:

Sandie said...

I have always found it funny too. But even with all that, I have actually (for just a second or two) thought of buying it because they make it look like so much fun :)

kc bob said...

Heeeey.. don't criticize the Bullet.. I love that infomercial :)

This is the best..

"turns your house into Benihana's"

..that is so funny!

karen said...

LOL!

Anonymous said...

"But wait, there's more..."

Ok, for all you people fascinated by this kind of trivia, here's an easy one:

Long before Mick and Mimi were even born, there was the famous "info-mercial" spokesperson who invented and marketed his own inventions - even had a daughter or two who joined him in the "promotions". He took over for his father who also sold his own invented products to the masses. A few years back, the son sold the company for $55 million but still appears on tv. I'm sure you all know the son's name, right? And the original company name is?

Of course, I remember the original invention (renamed from his father's invention)... I'm way too old, I guess...

kc bob said...

Ronco, Ron Popeil and the pocket fisherman?

rdl said...

I am almost too embarassed to admit - but i own one. It was a xmas gift last yr. or the yr. before from my mother-in-law; but it was my now 13 yr. old son's idea. He was totally smitten with the commercial. I used to at least tell him that it wasn't as simple as they made it look, you did have to go to the store, buy the food, cut it up and prepare it. funny tho, hey maybe i should sell it on ebay.

Anonymous said...

Great job, Kansas Bob. I was thinking of the original "Chop-o-matic" which was changed to "Veg-o-matic" - "the greatest kitchen appliance ever made!" Of course now that has been replaced by the "Dial-o-matic"... Sigh! Time and tide wait for no man!