What is the purpose of an infomercial?
To inform |
To persuade |
To request |
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- To teach us about how something works.
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- To convince us about something.
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- To get us to do something.
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Two types of Infomercials
Ones that ask for money to support a cause |
Ones that sell a product |
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Visuals |
Sad looking people and situations |
Pictures and video of the product in action |
Rate of speech |
slow talking |
fast talking |
Voice tone |
kind, thoughtful, almost begging |
intelligent, pushy, bossy, excited |
Try to hook you by... |
using guilt, empathy, sympathy |
promising things like improved appearance, self-confidence or that the product will make your life better or easier |
Other things we noticed about infomercials:
-They are longer than regular commercials
-They almost always have a host or narrator
-They flash the phone number and payment details on the screen
-They have sneaky pricing (e.g. "5 easy payments of $19.99!")
-They are longer than regular commercials
-They almost always have a host or narrator
-They flash the phone number and payment details on the screen
-They have sneaky pricing (e.g. "5 easy payments of $19.99!")
Infomercial Examples
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The Slap Chop
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The Snuggie
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Rollie Eggmaster
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Christian Children's Fund
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Infomercial Success Criteria
- Establish the needs of your audience. Think of problems. ("Are you tired of ____________, __________ and ________________ ?")
- Propose your plan for satisfying those needs. Think of a solution to the problem. ("Well then the __________ (product) will change everything!")
- Show how the product works
- Describe how the product will satisfy each need.
- Ask your audience to take the action your plan requires. ("Buy now!", "Call now to donate!", "Sponsor a child today!")
