As Seen on TV

Meijer Stores in Michigan has an entire 4 shelf display of "Seen on TV" items, so do several drug stores in this area.

I'm waiting for that copper pan to filter down.

They had that copper pan on sale in an HEB grocery store, in my town.

They had that copper pan on sale in an HEB grocery store, in my town.

Lately. there is an ad on TV for a stick on light. It is solar powered, motion activated. They claim it is very bright. They show it being stuck to a variety of surfaces. Put it anywhere on virtually any surface they imply. My neighbor called to order one. It was going to cost her 12.95 plus seven dollars. She questioned the sales person about how well it would stay in place. No problem, the lady assured her. But then, for an additional five dollars, she could include a special adhesive, to makes certain it never would move. My neighbor told her to cancel the order.

Walgreen's carries a large selection of these products. They're great for White Elephant gift exchanges.

I got the watermelon slicer. It works fine after a bit of practice.

I have their lint brush. It's beginning to lose its grippiness, but had a good long run.

I got the red copper frying pan. So far it is performing per the claims of the ad. My one complaint, it is not as big as I like one to be. There is a big square one available, but it costs around 60 bucks.

The Red Copper pan is almost as the ads say. Only thing so far, if you cook food until it goes dry it has a tendency to adhere to the surface. All it takes is water and a little wiping to restore it. I am very happy with mine.

One night while watching television, I saw an ad for something called the "Slapper." The slapper was a small, hand-held electronic device that, when squeezed, produced a loud and convincing slapping sound. Just as I was ready to change the channel, the ad suddenly became entertaining. I watched as third-rate actors employed to advertise the virtues of this new product were also unwittingly advertising their lack of acting ability at the same time, further decreasing their chances of getting any phone calls for any acting jobs.

Nevertheless, they played out a scene in which a woman in a bar is forced to fend off the aggressive advances of a decidedly objectionable character who just won't take no for an answer. Unable to deflect his advances, she looks around, making sure no one is looking, at which time she reaches into her purse and gives the Slapper a quick squeeze and then lets out a faint little scream as she falls to the floor, holding her cheek.

The bar suddenly becomes silent. The scene then shifts away from the woman on the floor and onto the rest of the patrons who've all stopped what they're doing to take in the scene of the sound of slapping, a woman on the floor holding her cheek, and a man looking all confused and innocent-like. The scene doesn't sit well with the crowd, as is evidenced by the fact that their initial looks of shock are quickly replaced by looks of contempt. Bingo! Guy problem solved.

In the next scene, an upset varsity basketball player is hopelessly pleading with a referee who has called a foul on him. Then the camera zooms in on the face of the kid who was allegedly fouled as he swaggars his way to the free-throw line wearing a smart-ass grin.

The camera zooms in on his left hand as he slips the tiny device back into his jock strap until it is needed again (never buy a used one of these). The commercial ends with the kid making both free-throws, and the kid who didn't foul him sitting on the bench looking scorned and dejected.

I thought about how the Slapper might benefit a bar owner like myself. I figure I could use it to justify busting someone's head by synchronizing the slapping sound with my head snapping back; a sort of false flag operation.

As a promotional sales gimmick, the first thousand callers would receive the Slapper free of charge; all they had to do was pay the shipping and handling fee of $9.95. Hmmm . . . So I'm waiting for it to make to the As Seen on TV shelf at the local Target store.

That's a new one on me. I don't see a personal need for one of those.

My Red Copper pan is still as I described before. I am about to order the larger, square model.

There is an ad on TV for a TV antenna, for air reception. It doesn't take a genius to figure it is pretty much a rabbit ears with a new look. Still, I wanted to compare the real item with the ad and bought one when it appeared on the shelf at Kroger. The ad shows only the antenna, looking like a tower and getting attached to the back of the television. In fact, the antenna does not fit on the TV. The coaxial connector is smaller than the receptacle, making it necessary to attach the provided coaxial cable and then find a place to put the antenna, which is no tower at all. It folds up taller and then has blades to be spread and adjusted, rabbit ears style. In short, a bogus ad for an antenna no different than the ones already in stores for the same price.

Cool thread, Ed.

Thanks. Between other posters and myself I hope to sort out the bad deals from the good.

The Red Copper pan now has some cracks in the cooking surface. The ads show them withstanding monumental abuse. The original ad, as I recall it, said, clean it with a paper towel. "Or, you can just put it in the dishwasher." I babied mine. No metal objects in contact with it. The roughest treatment it had was wiping it out with a dish cloth. I put it in the dishwasher several times. Coincidentally, a few days before the cracks appeared, I saw an on line ad for the same pan. There was, at the bottom of the ad, a warning to not put it in the dishwasher. I can only guess that the dishwasher caused the damage. I am going to search out the truth via Google sometime this week.