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Since the late 1950s, Ron Popeil has had three miserable product failures. One of them was the Inside the Outside Window Washer. The other was the Hold-Up. And the other was the Prescolator.
Those are three reasons you would never have heard of Ron Popeil. Now for the reasons his name does ring a bell. The Veg-O-Matic. The Pocket Fisherman. Mr. Microphone. The Popeil Automatic Pasta Maker. And on and on.
Yes, we're talking about Mr. Ronco here, who is probably one of the few authors who would propose buying an extra copy of his book, The Salesman of the Century , to use as a doorstop and perhaps another for a paperweight. Starting out at county fairs, he practically invented direct selling on TV. He also invented many of the products he sells. When I saw this book I rejoiced that the time had come for Ron Popeil to tell his story. He's a one of a kind. If you're a marketer, you could not fail to appropriate a few good money-making ideas from Ron Popeil's quiver of bullseye-seeking arrows. But I'd recommend this book to any student of contemporary popular culture. Ron Popeil is one of the giants of television, and a history of the medium would not be complete without him.
Michael Pellecchia writes about business and finance books each month. He can be reached at michael_pellecchia@bookpage.com.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.