Something about infomercials fascinates me. In a sick way. I can get stuck watching them for quite a while, unable to tear my eyes away, wondering how it is that such things are actually, really, it’s-no-joke on TV.

They don’t have to be in English, either. I was entranced by a Spanish-speaking infomercial for what I think was “Ingles Entretenido” yesterday. FIVE DVDs, FIVE CDs, a FREE DVD player and a FREE portable CD player—all for not $2000, not $1500, not $1000, but under $200. Being able to speak English is very important if you’re in an accident, if you need to talk to a doctor, or a police officer, or for dealing with anyone in authority.

The incredibly cheesy graphics (five DVDs in their cases zooming out of the background every time they’re mentioned), the amazingly obvious bluescreening, the hearty host (who, incidentally, appears to continue speaking non-stop for an impressive amount of time), the constant repetition—all these things somehow mesmerize me. It did lack some of the classic ingredients, though: testimonials and the amazing benefits that will surely accrue once you buy the product. In that sense, it rates as one of the more honest infomercials

N.B.: I don’t speak Spanish.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2004 at 12:30 09 Aug 2004 and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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