Where has the infomercial of the 80s or 90s gone?

Do you remember the days of watching late night television and you would inevitably see multiple infomercials?  They would be pitching a claim that their product was superior, easier to use, more convenient and worth the extra shipping and handling costs to boot!  All for 4 easy payments of $39.99 plus shipping and handling this genuine, one of a kind product which is the best known to man is yours to keep!

Wow!  You couldn’t hurry fast enough to get to the phone with your credit card.  Then the exciting anticipation of your product arriving in the mail commenced.  You could hardly wait!

Whether or not these products lived up to their hype is unknown.  Perhaps it’s still not proven, even today.  But this mysterious infomercial that we don’t see as often nowadays with Netflix and live streaming video is still around despite its unknown whereabouts.  Where you might ask?  That’s a great question!  Online, of course!

Actually these “infomercials” of today’s standards are lurking right in your Facebook newsfeed believe it or not.  You may click on an enticing photo or video of the latest gadget out of mild curiosity. Before you know it you are sent tumbling down into a funnel touting more and more claims of its superiority while unbeknownst to you requiring more and more of your personal information.  You may insert an email address to get the next item of information.  Later, you may be asked to click on a low priced item and if you do then the next product will appear.   And on it goes until you have given away all of your personal contact info, clicked a button or two and you have paid for any given item in their array of offers.  This item you have purchased will arrive on your doorstep in 2 days or less courtesy of the free shipping option.

Yes, it is true folks.  The infomercial has not been lost.  It has merely moved places. It moved online.  It doesn’t look quite the same but it smells, feels and even tastes the same as the old version.  So beware of your checkbook.  If you do not want your hard earned dollars to go flying off into the interwebs be careful of those “online infomercials” hiding in your newsfeed.  This unique form of marketing is still alive and well.  It has merely moved places.