It seems like more and more, our perception of what is healthful and nutritious is changing.  Workouts used to be aerobics driven, and “toning” consisted of high repetitions of low weights.  Now, both men and women are encouraged to build lean muscle through intensive weight training to build muscle and boost metabolism.  As Seen On TV workout videos have changed their focus from Jazzercise type aerobics videos to boot camp style, high intensity workouts like Insanity and P90X.

Nutrition recommendations have changed as well.  We used to fear eating eggs because they are loaded with cholesterol, but now doctors have determined that the cholesterol from foods does little to affect the cholesterol in our bodies.  We used to shun fats at all costs, but now we are encouraged to consume healthy fats that protect our hearts, such as the fats in walnuts, avocados, and Omega-3 fatty acids which promote healthy brain function.

To help incorporate healthy antioxidants from fruits and vegetables and plant-based “good fats,” nutritionists have long recommended drinking smoothies.  However, it is important to be careful when relying on smoothies for healthy eating, because those from restaurants, fast food chains, and specialty smoothie shops are often laden with hidden fat, sugar, and calories.  For the optimum nutrition from smoothies, health experts recommend blending your own smoothies at home.

As Seen On TV juicers and blenders have long been popular for making delicious smoothies easily.  Juicers such as the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, the Sharper Image Super Juicer, and the Living Well Healthmaster Emulsifier allow you to quickly take the nutritious juice from fruits and veggies while separating pulp, seeds, and other unwanted portions.

Juicers are great for making nutrient-rich juices from whole foods, but many people simply don’t have the counter space or storage space for yet another appliance.  The Ninja Kitchen System is a great new solution.  The Ninja is more than a blender or juicer.  In fact, with its two containers and five attachments, the Ninja does the work of your blender, food processor, juicer, mixer, and more.  The Ninja comes with a 72 ounce blender pitcher and a 40 ounce processing bowl.  Its five attachments include:

• Blending blade
• Food processing blade
• Whisk attachment
• Dough hook
• Dough paddle

With the Ninja, you can make not only smoothies, but also salsas, soups, pizza dough, and even ice cream.  By making these items at home, you can be certain of the ingredients included and know that there are no added preservatives, hidden fats, or extra sugar.  Make foods as low fat, high fiber, and healthy as you want.

Smoothies are also a great way to sneak nutrition to your kids.  While they may not be likely to eat a plate full of vegetables, you can sneak those same veggies into a fruit-filled smoothie.  Boost brain-building DHA by adding Omega-rich flaxseed to a smoothie, or ramp up the fiber content by adding a tablespoon or two of wheat germ.

With the Ninja blender, you can make smoothies, granitas, frozen drinks, juices, and even ice cream–all low fat and full of vitamins and minerals–and you can have them as quickly as the press of a button.

Raise a glass to healthy living!

There are all types of pitchmen in direct-response marketing.  Billy Mays, Anthony Sullivan, and even Vince Offer (better known as “The Sham-Wow Guy”) have all become celebrities in their own right, simply by virtue of being top infomercial pitchmen. Other pitchmen are famous for promoting their own products:  Ron Popeil, Jack LaLanne, Richard Simmons, Susan Powter, Matthew Lesko, and Richard Sherer (the Video Professor) take the airwaves to sell their own programs and inventions.   Infomercial exercise videos have launched their own field of stardom with fitness experts including Billy Blanks, Shaun T, and Chalean Johnson selling challenging exercise routines to devoted fans.

Long before pitchmen became famous simply for being the visible, personable face of an infomercial product, marketers knew the importance of using a famous face to endorse their products.  Before pitchmen became celebrities, celebrities became pitchmen.

Stardom sells, and the following lists includes some of the most famous faces to launch infomercial celebrity endorsements.

• Models – Cindy Crawford (Meaningful Beauty), Christie Brinkley (Total Gym), Daisy Fuentes (Winsor Pilates), Vanessa Williams (ProActiv), Elle Macpherson (ProActiv)
• Athletes – George Foreman (George Foreman Grill and Everyday and More Cleaner), Hulk Hogan (Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill)
• MMA – Chuck Liddell (JackRack), Georges St. Pierre (Rip60), Randy Couture (Tower 200)
• Actors/Actresses – Chuck Norris (Total Gym), Mario Lopez (Ultraflex), Barry Williams/”Greg Brady” (TimeLife70′s Music Explosion), Susan Lucci (Malibu Pilates)
• Singers/Musicians – Jessica Simpson (ProActiv), Katy Perry (ProActiv), Justin Bieber (ProActiv)

As I look through this list, I’m noticing that ProActiv Acne Solution really seems to have a corner on the celebrity pitchman market.  I mean, who doesn’t sell this stuff?  Just for fun, I’ll go ahead and post a list of Celebrities with Formerly Bad Skin who’ve appeared in ProActiv commercials:

• Julianne Hough – Dancing with the Stars
• Jenna Fischer – The Office
• Alyssa Milano – Who’s the Boss, Charmed
• Vanessa Williams – singer, actress, model, disgraced former Miss America
• Justin Bieber – singer
• Jessica Simpson – singer
• Katy Perry – singer
• Alicia Keys – singer
• Mandy Moore – singer, actress
• Jennifer Love Hewitt – actress
• Kelly Clarkson – American Idol, singer
• Avril Lavigne – singer

Celebrity endorsements lend a familiar face to the infomercial pitch, giving television viewers a sense of trust and a brush with fame.  After all, infomercial products are designed to make our lives easier, and if it’s good enough for those accustomed to a life of luxury and the finer things, shouldn’t it be good enough for us?

It has been nearly ten months since Seen on TV Express began bringing you the Way Back Wednesday series, in which we look back at vintage infomercials and the products they marketed to television viewers.  In that time, we have looked at hair products, kitchen products, exercise equipment, fitness videos, and a slew of gizmos and gadgets designed to simplify your life.  We have even paid homage to a couple of the heroes of direct response marketing and infomercial innovations:  Billy Mays and Jack LaLanne.  We have failed, however, to bring you the origin of perhaps the most frequently used sound bite in as seen on TV marketing . . . “But wait!  There’s more!”

This ubiquitous catch phrase got its start with the iconic Ginsu knife, one of the earliest products sold through infomercial marketing. The commercial for Ginsu knives first aired in 1978, and it pulled out all the stops, setting the tone for virtually every other infomercial since.  Ad copywriter Arthur Schiff coined the classic phrase when writing the Ginsu commercial, one of the 1,800 long form commercials he wrote in a career that spanned more than thirty years.  Watch the original Ginsu commercial here, and note how many techniques and phrases are still utilized today by pitchmen including Anthony Sullivan:

Here are just a few I noticed:

• “Cultural” significance of the product (although it should be noted that Ginsu knives were made in the United States and that “Ginsu” is not a Japanese word at all, but rather one invented by Arthur Schiff–allegedly in his sleep)
• Inability to perform simple tasks without the product (of course, karate chopping a tomato is rarely effective, but note our post devoted to “doing it wrong” in infomercials.
• Using the product in ways no one would ever initially attempt (until they got the idea to chop wood with a kitchen knife from the commercial itself)
• More for less (“You get all this for only $9.99)
• And of course, “But wait!  There’s more!”

Marketing consultant John Witek, author of Response Television: Combat Advertising of the 1980s, sums it up this way:   “Ginsu had humor, demonstration, and a precisely structured series of premium offers I call ‘the lots-for-a-little approach.”  Arthur Schiff was really on to something when he wrote the Ginsu commercial.  For more than thirty years, direct response marketing has followed his model for infomercial sales techniques.

AP/Ariel Hankin

Fairwell to Fitness Legend Jack LaLanne

The legendary fitness guru who once joked, “”I can’t afford to die. It would wreck my image,” recently passed away at the age of 96.  On Sunday, January 23, 2011, wellness expert Jack LaLanne died of respiratory failure as a result of pneumonia.  LaLanne was a leader in promoting and popularizing fitness and wellness,  and is credited by numerous celebrities as the reason they adopted a fit, healthy lifestyle.

LaLanne used his enthusiasm and his understanding of wellness to encourage others and to bring exercise out of the gym and into the living rooms of the common man–and woman–as early as the 1950′s.  Jack LaLanne said, “The only way you can hurt the body is not use it. Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it’s never too late.”  The unassuming man proved this time and again through feats of strength and fitness that would amaze his audience and help spread his message.   According to an Associated Press obituary listed on Yahoo! News, LaLanne performed 1,000 pushups in 23 minutes on the show You Asked For It–at the age of 43.  When he was 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.  If successfully swimming more than a mile through the choppy, frigid water (seasonal temperatures in the Bay range from 46-73 degrees) weren’t enough, LaLanne swam “handcuffed, shackled, and towing a boat.”

Jack LaLanne – it takes more than exercise

LaLanne’s message of health did not end with the importance of exercise.  He was a proponent of natural nutrition, focused on whole grains, lean protein, and fresh fruits and vegetables.  In fact, he made getting vital nutrients easier with the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, one of the most successful infomercial products available.

Finally, LaLanne focused on total mind-body wellness, illustrating the power of optimism and the role of exercise and nutrition on improving one’s emotional outlook:

When asked about his intensive daily workout routine and how long he planned to keep it up, Jack LaLanne replied, “”How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it.”

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Elaine LaLanne, and his three children, Dan, Jon, and Yvonne.

Jack LaLanne – you will be missed.

When thinking of infomercial product marketing, several big names come to mind:  Ron Popeil, Billy Mays, Anthony Sullivan, and of course, the legendary Jack LaLanne.  Now in his mid-nineties, Jack LaLanne began his career as a fitness expert, and was among the first to encourage weight lifting for not only men’s health, but for women as well.  A fitness innovator, he created some of the first weight training machines, including the leg extension machine and the Smith machine.

LaLanne was the first to take his fitness programs to television.  Even before the days of selling “as seen on TV products,”  LaLanne was a television fitness guru.  In the following clip from one of his early shows, LaLanne shows how important it is to exercise even your face:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLJ024EdMA

Since then, a number of products and videos have launched to help people with facial exercise, including the Neckline Slimmer, Facial Flex, Flexaway, and Rejuvenique, which we’ll look at more closely next week.

Jack LaLanne himself didn’t stop with his fitness programs.  LaLanne has authored books, developed nutritional supplements, and marketed two of the top selling infomercial juicers:  The Juice Tiger and Jack LaLanne’s Power Juicer.  LaLanne touts the nutritional benefits of juicing, and since he celebrated his 96th birthday last month, I’d say he may be on to something.