Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Death of the Infomercial?
Since the 1950s, late night TV has been the world of the infomercial: late night hucksters selling ginsu knives, wearable towels, Snuggies... But infomercials have become a victim of their own success.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readSince the 1950s, late night TV has been the world of the infomercial: late night hucksters selling ginsu knives, wearable towels, Snuggies... But infomercials have become a victim of their own success. At more than $200 billion, the late night “direct response television” industry has attracted big companies that are squeezing out the backyard inventors that used to populate the space. Is the infomercial as we know it disappearing? Is that a bad thing?
