But Wait, There's More

For decades, late-night television promised sharper knives, flatter stomachs, cleaner kitchens, younger skin, effortless fitness, and products you never knew you needed until a pitchman told you otherwise.

But were all those "As Seen on TV" products really useless?

But Wait, There's More: A History of Useless Infomercials goes behind the demonstrations, catchphrases, celebrity endorsements, toll-free numbers, and impossible-looking before-and-after shots to uncover the real history of American direct-response television.

From the live salesmanship that shaped Ron Popeil's career and the Ginsu commercial that helped codify "But wait, there's more," to the ThighMaster, Chia Pet, The Clapper, Snuggie, ShamWow, PedEgg, Showtime Rotisserie, OxiClean, Proactiv, Total Gym, P90X, and some of television's strangest failures, the book asks the same question of each famous pitch: What was being promised, what did the product actually do, and was the customer really getting what television implied?

Along the way, the story expands beyond individual gadgets. It examines the economics of the $19.95 offer, shipping-and-handling profits, upsells, continuity billing, celebrity pitchmen, Federal Trade Commission enforcement, deceptive testimonials, home-shopping television, the rise of the "As Seen on TV" retail aisle, and the migration of direct-response selling into e-commerce, livestream shopping, and today's creator economy.

Drawing on contemporary reporting, court records, regulatory actions, corporate filings, product testing, and historical sources, But Wait, There's More separates products that genuinely worked from those that merely sold extraordinarily well-and shows that the infomercial never really disappeared.

It simply learned how to fit on a smaller screen.