Lesson #1: Make the Product the Star of the Show

There really was not much to Ron Popeil’s Veg-O-Matic. You took a vegetable of your choice, put it through the machine’s blades, and you immediately had vegetable slices. But, if it was such a simple and transparent device, how come it became one of the first food-processing appliances to gain such widespread popularity in the U.S.? Were Americans really that eager to find a better way of slicing and dicing their veggies? Perhaps, but there was more to it than that; in pitching his product, Popeil made Veg-O-Matic the star of the show.



It was the summer of 1964 when Popeil introduced the Veg-O-Matic to audiences across America. In a two-minute commercial, Popeil had the challenging task of trying to convince viewers that if there was one thing they had to have in their kitchen, the Veg-O-Matic was it. In order to sell that idea, he knew what he had to do. Popeil had to turn the camera away from himself and onto the product. He was one of the first to understand the impact of the compelling images that were possible with the new medium of television and he used that to his advantage. He directed the viewer’s attention to the machine, demonstrating how it worked with ease, its lack of complicated gadgets, and its fast results.

The success of the Veg-O-Matic commercial taught Popeil a lesson he would use again when launching his Showtime Rotisserie. In creating his infomercial for the meat cooker, he opens with shots not of himself, but of the luscious, juicy poultry slowly rotating inside his latest invention. The voice then comes on: “a delicious six-pound chicken…a succulent whole duckling…a mouthwatering pork-loin roast.” If that did not make your mouth water, on to the screen came Popeil to lure you even further into his grips.

Over the next few minutes, Popeil garnishes some salmon with lemon and dill and puts it into his Rotisserie; then, onto a rib roast, and a pair of chickens. But, the beauty of it all is that very rarely does the viewer actually get to see Popeil’s face. Rather, the camera is focused on the tempting food almost the entire time. And Popeil’s seductive voice guides viewers through the entire process: “What I'd like to do is take some herbs and spices here. All I'll do is slide it back. Raise up my glass door here. I'll turn it to a little over an hour. . . . Just set it and forget it.”

Making the products the star of his infomercials worked so well because that is what they were designed to be. The Rotisserie was manufactured with a clear plane of glass so that you could watch the entire, juicy process of the meat being cooked. The glass was also slanted backwards so that a large amount of light could seep through. Popeil understood that the better the product looked, especially while in use, the easier it would be for him to sell it. Thus, both in design and in marketing, Popeil made sure it was his product – not himself – that was the star of the show.



Lesson #1: Make the Product the Star of the Show

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