As the SeenOnTV Express blogger, I’m constantly being made aware of the newest, hottest As Seen On TV products.  While some of the products don’t necessarily appeal to me, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t frequently stumble across a product that I just have to have.  As Seen On TV beauty products, kitchen products, exercise equipment, fitness videos, and comfort items all make my list.  With the holidays just around the corner, I thought it would be a perfect time to share some of my favorite products–the ones I hope show up under my Christmas tree.  After all, Santa knows I’ve been very good this year.  Well–at least he knows I tried.

As Seen On TV Christmas List

• Forever Lazy – I’m not gonna lie.  This looks super cozy and comfortable.  For someone who works from home, this would be the perfect gift.  I may never wear actual clothes again.  At least until spring.
• Instyler – If I’m not mistaken, this made my list last year, but I didn’t find it in my stocking.  I think if I’m going to be spending my days in a giant, adult sized onesie, at least my hair should look good.
• Flex Seal – I know–household products shouldn’t really be on a Christmas list.  Next thing you know I’ll be asking for a blender.  But I really, really want to make a boat out of a screen door.
• Ninja Kitchen Blender – Yep.  I told you I’d be asking for a blender next.  I have a blender already.  It even has a food processing bowl.  But it is not this cool.  Not. At. All.
• Flex Mini – Seriously.  I can tone my butt without ever doing a single squat?  Sign me up.
• Any of the Beachbody videos - I don’t really like to work out, but I do really like to eat.  If I’m going to work out, I want it to be worth my time and energy.  I want it to feel like a workout, and I want results.  Beachbody workouts like P90x, Insantity, TurboFire, and Chalean Extreme are effective workouts for people who aren’t afraid to work hard to get results fast.

If I’ve been good enough this year, expect to see me in January, recovering from my Insanity workout by mixing up a healthy detox smoothie in my Ninja Kitchen Blender while wearing Forever Lazy and getting a workout boost from my Flex Mini.  And, gurrrl, my hair will look goooood.

As Seen on TV Best Sellers

Infomercial products are designed to fill a need, solve a problem, minimize an annoyance.  The inventors of these As Seen on TV product innovations have an uncanny ability to find television viewers’ biggest pet peeves and market a solution.  Describing the invention of the Snuggie, one infomercial product review website noted,  “One day a guy put on his robe backwards and said, ‘I want a Porsche.’”  With over 20 million Snuggies sold in 2009 alone . . . well, that’s a lot of Porsches.

When an infomercial hits big, it REALLY hits big.  According to several sources, the television infomercial business, or Direct Response Television (DRTV) marketing, is a $300 billion dollar industry.  Forbes.com cites Remy Stern, author of But Wait . . . There’s More, in saying that the direct response marketing industry is “larger than the film, music and video game industries combined.”  So in an arena filled with failed ideas, which As Seen on TV products are generating the most revenue?

Top Ten Infomercial Products and As Seen on TV Products

A Forbes.com article released by ABC News reveals the ten most successful television infomercial products as determined by California-based research firm Jordan Whitney.  This list is based on sales figures from Nov. 2009 to Nov. 2010:

1. Bowflex Home Gym
2. Carleton Sheets Real Estate Tutorial
3. Proactiv Solution Acne Treatment
4. Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Pro Electric Rotisserie Oven
5. Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Air Purifier
6. The Firm Bodybuilding Fitness Videos
7. Walk Away the Pounds for Abs Weight Loss System
8. Gazelle Freestyle Home Exercise Equipment
9. Total Gym Challenge Home Gym
10. Foodsaver Food Vacuum Packaging Machine

Though this list provides the most successful products for last year, the As Seen on TV best sellers are constantly evolving.  In fact, infomercial researchers at Jordan Whitney also list weekly top sellers.  Last week’s best selling As Seen on TV products included mostly fitness and personal care products:

1. P90X
2. Insanity
3. No!No! Hair
4. Six Week Body Makeover
5. Turbo Fire
6. Zumba
7. Genie Bra
8. Wen Hair Care
9. Cindy Crawford’s Meaningful Beauty
10. Sensa Weight Loss System

Hm.  That list looks suspiciously like the As Seen on TV products in our Spring Fever Series.

The holidays are fast approaching–only two more shopping days until Christmas!  At the Way Back Wednesday home, we’ve handled the gift-buying largely by avoiding the malls and ordering online, and we’ve commenced celebrating by watching scores of children’s holiday movies with Way Little Wednesday.   The combination of these two has been ultra-convenient, as whenever I see an infomercial for an as seen on TV product that will be great for someone on my shopping list, I just pop open the laptop, head over to SeenOnTV Express, and my shopping is taken care of, without ever leaving the couch or missing a minute of our Christmas Film Festival.

Speaking of Christmas movies, last week we talked about how no one does Christmas music quite like Time Life.  However, Time Life doesn’t just do music; they have some of the best video collections as well.  Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes is one example of how Time Life Music and Video brings a Christmas phenomenon right into your home.

Kids’ Christmas videos is another area in which they excel.  This year, Mr. Way Back Wednesday and I decided that we can’t just wait to happen upon our favorite Christmas movies–we need to buy the DVDs so that Way Little Wednesday can watch them whenever he wants.  Finding all the children’s Christmas classics was a little more difficult–and expensive–than we had anticipated.  We should have realized that Time Life (and a time machine) would have had the perfect solution:

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are two of my personal favorites.  In fact, they are destined to become favorites of Way Little as well.  Today, after watching Frosty, Way Little exclaimed, “Again!”

From all of us at Way Back Wednesday and SeenOnTV Express, have a “Holly Jolly Christmas:”

Today’s workouts for men are all about working hard and getting ripped.   The hottest–and hardest–workouts include boot camp workouts, P90x, and Insanity.  The infomercials for these video exercise programs show men dripping with sweat, groaning in agony, and pushing themselves to the limit in order to get the lean, muscular, rippling body I enjoy ogling they want.

But things were not always so difficult for all of these poor men in pursuit of fitness.  Enter the manliest man of them all–Richard Simmons.  Our dear Richard is generally known for cavorting around with the ladies, dancing with them on stage in malls all across America, giving them the confidence to be seen in public “Sweatin’ to the Oldies.”  But Richard knew that men were not immune to the perils of low self-esteem from a less than stellar body.  Because a full THIRTY FIVE PERCENT of his letters come from men, he decided to create a program to help these poor men achieve weight loss results without resorting to grueling, painful workouts.

Enter “Farewell to Fat.”  Today’s seen on TV workout videos are all about feeling the burn and taking your workout to the extreme, and the titles prove it.  TurboFire and Chalean Extreme are only two examples that showwomen aren’t immune to this phenomenon of working out until you drop.  But with Farewell to Fat, the title reflects the softer side of working out.  You can practically see Richard’s wrist a-fluttering as he waves buh-bye to that unwelcome fat.  “Toodle-oo and farewell, fat, old friend!”

With Farewell to Fat, Richard Simmons invited men into his world of booty-shakin’ workouts.  Mall stages weren’t just for women anymore:

Richard Simmons:  The Great Equalizer

(I can’t let this post go without drawing your attention to the spectacular molestache at 0:58.)

Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, has become really big news in recent years.  The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has come a long way from its early beginnings when it was misunderstood and compared with bare knuckle, no-holds-barred brawls.  As people begin to understand the true martial arts and wrestling roots of MMA, however, the sport has enjoyed increasing popularity.  This phenomenon spawned MMA-inspired apparel created by Tap Out, RVCA, and Affliction.  Once found only through online MMA specialty shops, you can now find these t-shirts in any mall.  The UFC, once condemned as a brutal sport of barroom brawlers, has launched its highly-trained fighters into household names.  In fact, The SciMark Report indicates that MMA has inspired a new trend in fitness equipment.  Acclaimed mixed martial artists and UFC fighters Randy Couture, Rich Franklin, and Bas Ruten are all currently endorsing infomercial fitness equipment.

So what does all of this have to do with Way Back Wednesday?  As a huge MMA fan, I am really interested in the unprecedented growth of this sport.  With so many MMA standouts selling exercise equipment through television marketing, I started thinking about the beginnings of martial arts as an infomercial fitness phenomenon.

One of the first martial-arts inspired fitness trends seen on TV was Tae Bo, marketed by fitness guru Billy Blanks.  Designed as a blend of Tae Kwon Do, boxing, and aerobics, Tae Bo launched a cardio kickboxing craze.  Even after the success of the initial Tae Bo series in the late 1990′s, Tae Bo continued to evolve, with Billy Blanks expanding the series to include Amped, T3, and Boot Camp videos and DVDs.   Take a look at this clip from the original Tae Bo Basic video:

Now, I’ll admit that I was an owner of this original series, and these exercise videos did, in fact, work really well.  The major drawback was that I felt like I had to constantly avert my eyes from Billy Blanks’s barely covered chest (I think it was cold in that studio) and from his embarrassingly tight, shiny pants.  That’s more information about Billy Blanks than I need.

The martial arts inspiration continued with everyone’s favorite roundhouse kickin’  Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris, and his Total Gym.  Even Tony Horton’s P90x includes a martial arts element through its Kenpo X routine.  As the pure martial arts evolve into the highly popular mixed martial arts, Randy Couture, UFC Hall of Famer and repeat champion in two weight classes, comes on the scene with the Tower 200.  Touted as “The Ultimate Workout,” the Tower 200 attaches itself to the fame of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its most prized fighter.

As MMA continues to grow, I’ll be interested to see how its popularity further impacts fitness trends.

Now through Nov 15, 2009  TimeLife® is offering 20% off purchases of $99 or more (before adding taxes and shipping).

This is their biggest sale of the year – order now to have your favorite Time Life® music or video collections delivered before Christmas at great savings.  Use the banner to get complete details or get more TimeLife Coupons here.