Sunday, September 03, 2006

But wait! There's more!

And if you call right now, we'll also send you this amazing tool absolutely free!!

Word we all know and...well, maybe loathe but love as well, for they are familiar to us now. These hallmark sayings were made famous by Arthur Schiff, who died of lung cancer last week in Coral Springs, Florida. At 66, he was still a businessman, who'd run his own marketing company for 23 years. His passing, like the man himself, was altogether quiet, with not a single newspaper noting his death. Until now.

But wait! There's more!

Over more than 30 years, Schiff created some 1,800 "long-form" or "direct response" TV commercials. He was the unseen king of the infomercial, the hidden hand behind the "amazing" Steakhouse Onion Machine, the "miraculous" Ambervision Sunglasses and the "revolutionary" Shiwala car mop. Oh, and don't forget the unforgettable: GINSU KNIVES. Yes, that was Schiff's marketing genius that made these knives--manufactured in Ohio, USA--an icon of American Commercial Television.

Even if the news media hasn't noticed his passing, you would have thought QVC, The Shopping Channel or I dunno, The Food Channel would have been running a tribute to the genius behind their successes...or maybe a rerun on TV Land Channel of Lucy Does a TV Commercial (where the inimitable Lucille Ball sells "Vitameatavegamin" containing vitamins, meat, vegetables AND alcohol to make it go down "Just Like Candy"!)

But wait! There's more! At least for those of us with a TV.

-sry

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