From a very young age, our older daughter has been fascinated by infomercials. While her peers were probably watching cartoons, she was busy scouting out the latest innovations in home improvement and repair, health and beauty, and more.
It’s not unusual for her to become so excited about a new product on the market that she’ll run to tell me about all of its attributes. And she has a truly remarkable memory, always quoting the advertisement’s claims verbatim.
First, it was Roll ‘N Grow. In spite of the fact that I have little to no interest in gardening, our resident consumer reporter was quick to point out how easy it would be to create beautiful landscaping in our yard.
“Mom!” she said excitedly. “Roll ‘N Grow is awesome! Just roll, water and let nature do the rest!”
Then Mighty Putty hit the airwaves. Our oldest was blown away by the fact that this tiny ball of adhesive could pull a semi truck behind it. (To be fair, this IS an amazing accomplishment!) And any time an infomercial mentions you’ll receive more than one product for one price, she’s all over it. Mighty Putty sends six sticks per order for the low, low, LOW price of $19.99. (NOTE: I did a little investigative reporting myself and you can get eight balls of SILLY Putty for $10.50, but admittedly, pulling a semi truck behind you is out of the question.)
This morning, our daughter was incredibly pumped about Ped Egg, a home pedicure product, which she thought would be the answer to all my troubles.
“The miracle foot cream is great for moms, dads, daughters and grandmas,” she began animatedly. “It’s just $10 and this TV offer is not available in stores.”
Those TV marketing executives sure know what they’re doing – these particular infomercials have aired on the Family Channel at times when children’s programming usually appears. For now, this obsession is cute and harmless, but I dread the day when our little llama figures out how the 1-800 number works.
You may all receive Roll ‘N Grow for Christmas. Consider yourselves forewarned.
2 comments:
LOL! I can so relate! I love gardening, but my son told me recently it could all be so much easier (and we could save more $) if I'd just order the Roll n'Grow and then proceeded to sing its praises. What is so captivating about these infomercials?
Ohhh, that is SO my son! He's learned to ask whether I believe the infomercial's claims, and often now makes his own judgement call on their verity. (I'm so glad to see that healthy skepticism!)
In other news, I missed our Elite Eight gathering this summer, and hope we can pull that off again next year! Hugs to everyone!
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