Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/18/ron-popeils-ingenious-crap.html
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Yep, exactly how I remember the 80’s and early 90’s - shoulder pads out to here and mauve everywhere.
My friend showed me a pic of his Popeil “set it and forget it” oven the other day- complete with a chicken.
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So great was he that Weird Al sang a tribute to him.
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Loved his Futurama cameo:
“Welcome to this year’s Academy of Inventors Annual Symposium. I’m your host, Ron Popeil, inventor of Mr. Microphone, the spray-on toupee and, of course, the technology to keep human heads alive in jars. But wait, there’s more!”
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OMG Mr. Microphone RULES!
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I had one of those as a kid. If I recall correctly the effective broadcast range was no more than a few feet from the radio so it wouldn’t run afoul of FCC regulations.
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I remember the commercials. It was for catcalling at people from your convertible.
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It’s not possible any of that is just junk he bought off a cargo ship from China?
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Perhaps he just “Knew a guy”.
And holy salesman Batman! :
“Popeil broke worldwide sales records by selling over $1 million worth of his Showtime Rotisseries during a one-hour live airing on QVC television (selling approximately 150 units each minute to viewers).”
Damn!
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The 80’s were weird. Wish I was an adult for them. 70’s too. But only sorta.
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Yeah IKR. We’ve got something more along the lines of the Bass-O-Matic guy. (No offense Dan)
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nice post!
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Leaving satisfied.
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Please. In Popeil’s heyday (1970s-1980s) China was Maoist or just post-Mao. They didn’t make crapgadgets back then. Singapore, South Korea, or British Hong Kong, maybe.
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Whoever made the pocket fisherman made crap. My dad gave me one. The foldable stuff from china now is better.
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What’s more, he got Ron’s daughter Lisa Popeil to sing backup for him, on that song and a number of others.
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I wish I could find the Second City skit with John Candy using one of these. I know it happened, but nothing turns up on the Googles or the Youtubes.
Best line: “Stop, or I’ll cast!” as a very fake fish is pulled through a very small stream. Special effects were not Second City’s specialty.
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