Friday, February 27, 2009

Edna's Fun Friday: ShamWow!

Edna: I have a confession to make, dear readers. I am utterly fascinated by infomercials. I don't know what it is about them, maybe it's the fact that everyone is so enthusiastic about their products. (Yes, yes, I know, they're paid to be enthusiastic, but I still find it endearing.) No matter how many times I've seen Mick and Mimi demonstrate the Magic Bullet to a kitchen full of pseudo-houseguests, I still stop and watch if I happen to catch it while channel surfing. I even watched poor Mr. T. hawk the FlavorWave oven. (Which, quite frankly, just seemed a little odd. They didn't even let him wear his gold necklaces.)

My newest fascinaton is with the ShamWow. My goodness, but does this look like a wonderful product or what? The oddly intense spokesman seems to think so, as he spills and wipes up various liquids and waxes rhapsodic about the absorbing power of one single ShamWow. You know, I think this thing would come in handy the next time I spill Margie's special tea. I could just whip out my ShamWow, soak up all of her drink, and squeeze it all back into her teacup with her being none-the-wiser.

But as with all of my favorite infomercials, I always wonder if the product is all it's cracked up to be. So tell me, have any of you tried the ShamWow? Do the Germans really know what they're doing when it comes to making synthetic shammies, or is this thing just an over-hyped piece of you-know-what?

19 comments:

Hawksdomain said...

I love the Sham WOW guy.... I laugh every time I see this commercial.... He has another commercial now too - just as intense and so funny. But... I've not tried either product... :)

Anonymous said...

I always find it funny how enthusiastic people get in these things - can cleaning products really be that exciting?!

Unknown said...

My dad bought the Shamwows and he LOVES them! He's an informercial freak too, its rubbing off on my 5 year old soon.

If you're wearing jewelry he'll tell you to sell it to Cash4Gold.

Mary@Holy Mackerel said...

The Sham Wow guy makes me sick and gives me a migraine, but I do love infomercials in general!

I have a pseudo-Sham Wow, and it sucks.

Alicia aka "Fashiona" said...

Edna....have you no shame...don't answer that.

Brady Eilers said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laura said...

I love infomercials! I admit I've bought a few gadgets from infomercials. I bought the Magic Bullet and love it. The ShamWow looks cool and I'll probably end up buying one.

Debby said...

I haven't bought one but it does look interesting. Edna you might have been able to get away with sopping up Margie's special tea and squeezing it back in her cup but now that you told us I am sure she will find out. If she buys a sham wow watch out.
Debby

Anonymous said...

I love/hate infomercials...and i do own a shamwow...i don't use it for drying stuff, i use it for cleaning computers and cleaning processors and stuff like that...but it works well and is washable...and i did use it to dry my car once...and it worked as well as one of those 20 dollar wet towels made just for cars...so i give it my thumbs up

Becki said...

Infomercials rock! I totally want to get the Shamwow for my SIL since she's always talking about that infomercial...

Anonymous said...

I get sucked into the Magic Bullet one, too. I don't know why, but I don't care either. It's strangely fascinating.

I just bought a PedEgg (though not from calling the TV number. They sell them at Walgreens) and I LOVE IT! Works exactly as advertised and my feet have never been happier.

ShamWow guy gives me a massive headache. I can't get to the remote fast enough.

Anonymous said...

Hope you two are having a great weekend. I also bought the "other" brand of soak-it-up fame...it is TERRIBLE...I don't even use it for dusting. Tried to wipe up a spill on my kitchen tile and it just push the spill around...even after washing, it has no "absorbable" quality whatsoever. Useless! Probably NOT made by Germans. Am afraid to try the ShamWow because of the first bad experience.

Bdubs said...

Haha, I'm with you-infomercials are endearing in a way. I love how excited everyone gets, and the cheesy quotes. I haven't tried the ShamWow, but I'm definitely tempted.

Dwacon said...

I miss those old Bounty commercials with Nancy Walker as the waitress.

Unknown said...

Let me know if you buy them and if they work! Thanks for the kind comment today!

Lydia

Allison said...

Just this last Thursday, Rhett and Link did a show all about ShamWow, even did an onair experiment, where they tried the rug trick whatshisname does on the commercial---and it really worked! I'm not a BIG fan of it....it won't work if you put it through the dryer, especially if you use fabric softner sheets, so mine are ruined :-| Oh well, I wasn't a big fan even before that.

Anonymous said...

They sell ShamWow's at Bed Bath and Beyond and I have been so tempted to have my hubby go pick me up one, just so I can spill something and see if they're all they claim to be cracked up to be. *lol*

I can't remember how the heck I got here, but I'm glad I did. I'll be back!

BTW, the ShamWow guy is ten times LESS irritating than Billy Mays...that guy makes my ears bleed! I just wish he'd stop screaming!

TRoss said...

Billy Mays, my god. He makes me WISH I was hearing impaired.

But my question on the ShamWOW is, why the hell is the guy wearing a headset? Is he taking orders at the same time? Couldn't they afford to pay for a spokesman AND a customer service rep?

I've never bought a gadget from infomercials before, just some exercise programs. I actually called about a real estate program too, but after they tried to sell me about ten additional components the program, I asked them what was in the basic program if all this other stuff was sold separately? And then I hung up.

Anonymous said...

i just realized that the Shamwow guy is sporting a fohawk

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