Ron Popeil

Popeil was born to a Jewish family[https://18doors.org/interfaith_celebrities_why_pink_is_a_mixed_bag/ Interfaith Families: "Interfaith Celebrities: Why Pink is a Mixed Bag"] By Nate Bloom. 2015 in Manhattan in 1935, the son of Julia (née Schwartz) and Samuel Popeil.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-4fAQAAIAAJ&q=Julia+Popeil+(Schwartz|title = But, Wait! There's More! ...The Irresistible Appeal and Spiel of Ronco and Popeil|isbn = 9780847824311|last1 = Samuelson|first1 = Timothy|year = 2002| publisher=Rizzoli}} When he was six, his parents divorced and he and his brother went to live in Florida with their grandparents. At age 17 in 1952, he went with his grandparents to work for his father at his company's (Popeil Brothers) manufacturing facility in Chicago. His grandparents later returned to Florida and Popeil remained with his father.{{cite book |last1=Stern |first1=Remy |title=But Wait ... There's More! Tighten Your Abs, Make Millions, and Learn How the $100 Billion Infomercial Industry Sold Us Everything But the Kitchen Sink |date=2009 |isbn=9780061260551 |page=11 |publisher=HarperCollins |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061260551}}

When he was 18, Popeil attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he joined Alpha Epsilon Pi before withdrawing after six months.{{Cite web|url=https://uiaa.org/2013/12/13/alumni-interview-ron-popeil/|title = University of Illinois Alumni|date = December 13, 2013}}

After returning from college, Popeil continued to work and learn from his father, who was also an inventor and salesman of numerous kitchen-related gadgets, such as the Chop-O-Matic and the Veg-O-Matic.{{Cite web |title=Veg-O-Matic II |url=https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_323705 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Smithsonian Institution |language=en}} The Chop-O-Matic retailed for US$3.98 and sold over two million units.{{Cite web |last=Roper |first=Matt |date=2021-08-04 |title=Kitchen gadget 'O-Matic' genius, salesman of the century and cultural icon dies |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/ron-popeil-dead-kitchen-gadget-24690073 |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The Mirror |language=en}}

The invention of the Chop-O-Matic caused a problem that marked the entrance of Ron Popeil into television. The Chop-O-Matic was so efficient at chopping vegetables that it was impractical for salesmen to carry all the vegetables needed for the demonstrations over the course of a day.{{cite web |last1=Gladwell |first1=Malcolm |title=The Pitchman: Ron Popeil and the Conquest of the American Kitchen |url=https://pen.org/what-the-dog-saw-and-other-adventures/ |website=PEN America |access-date=March 8, 2023 |date=April 8, 2011}} The solution was to tape the demonstration. Once the demonstration was taped, it was a short step to broadcasting it as a commercial.

Popeil initially operated as a distributor of his father's kitchen products and later formed his own company, Ronco, in 1964. He continued as a distributor for his father and added additional products from other manufacturers.{{cite book|last=Mateja|first=Andrew|title=The Rise and Fall of the First Popeil Gadget Dynasty|location=Mustang, Oklahoma|publisher=Tate Publishing|year=2013|page=33}} Ron Popeil and his father became competitors in the 1970s for the same retail store business.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

Popeil received the Ig Nobel Prize in Consumer Engineering in 1993. The awards committee described him as the "incessant inventor and perpetual pitchman of late night television" and awarded the prize in recognition of his "redefining the industrial revolution" with his devices.{{cite web |title=Ig Nobel Prize Winners |url=https://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1993 |website=Improbable Research |access-date=1 August 2021 |date=1 August 2006}} He was a past member of the board of directors of Mirage Resorts, where he served for 22 years under Steve Wynn, as well as a past member of the board of directors of MGM Hotels for seven years under Kirk Kerkorian.{{cn|date=August 2021}} He became the recipient of the Electronic Retail Association's Lifetime Achievement award in 2001{{cite web|title=Lifetime Achievement Award|url=https://retailing.org/membership/awards/lifetime-achievement-award|website=retailing.org|publisher=Electronic Retailing Association|access-date=May 22, 2017|ref=ERAaward|language=en|archive-date=May 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506040806/http://www.retailing.org/membership/awards/lifetime-achievement-award|url-status=dead}} and he is listed in the Direct Response Hall of Fame.{{cite magazine |last1=Haire |first1=Thomas |title=Pearls of Wisdom |url=https://drtv.com/uploads/news/Pearls_of_Wisdom.pdf |access-date=December 15, 2021 |magazine=Response Magazine |publisher=Cannella Response Television LLC |date=April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802191107/https://drtv.com/uploads/news/Pearls_of_Wisdom.pdf |archive-date=2021-08-02}}

Popeil was previously{{when|date=November 2018}} a member of the advisory board for University of California, Los Angeles' Business, Management, and Legal Programs. In August 2005, he sold his company, Ronco, to Fi-Tek VII, a Denver holding company, for US$55 million, with plans to continue serving as the spokesman and inventor while being able to spend more time with his family.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

In 1956, Popeil married Marilyn Greene, with whom he had two daughters; they divorced in 1963. He married Lisa Boehne some time after this and had one daughter with her. He and Boehne divorced sometime before 1995, when he married Robin Angers, with whom he had two more daughters. Ashley Tisdale and Jennifer Tisdale are his cousins.

Popeil died on July 28, 2021, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at age 86. He had been sent there a day earlier for a medical emergency.{{cite web | title=Ron Popeil, Infomercial Tycoon, Dies At 86 | website=Huffington Post | date=July 28, 2021 | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-popeil-inventor-informercial-dead-86_n_6101c816e4b0fd216c21a091| access-date=July 28, 2021}} No cause of death was given.{{cite web | title=Ron Popeil, inventor and king of TV pitchmen, dies at 86 | website=The Associated Press | date=July 28, 2021 | url=https://apnews.com/article/business-arts-and-entertainment-ron-popeil-9b58dabb751fb23f7d08d0d32e32ca5f | access-date=July 29, 2021}} According to his half-sister, Lisa Popeil, the cause of death was a brain hemorrhage.{{cite news |author1=Daniel Victor |title=Ron Popeil, Inventor and Ubiquitous Infomercial Pitchman, Dies at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/29/business/ron-popeil-dead.html |access-date=May 8, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801031616/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/29/business/ron-popeil-dead.html |archive-date=August 1, 2021 |url-status=deviated}}

{{Main|Ronco#Inventions}}

Popeil is noted for marketing and in some cases inventing a wide variety of products. Among the better known and more successful are the Chop-O-Matic hand food processor ("Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to show you the greatest kitchen appliance ever made ... All your onions chopped to perfection without shedding a single tear."), the Dial-O-Matic successor to the Veg-O-Matic ("Slice a tomato so thin it only has one side."), and the Ronco Pocket Fisherman. Popeil is also well known for his housewares inventions like his Giant Dehydrator and Beef Jerky Machine, his Electric Pasta Maker and his Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ. His Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ sold over eight million units in the US alone, helping Ronco's housewares sales exceed $1 billion in sales.{{Cite web|title=Ron Popeil Infomercial King Dead at 86|url=https://www.tmz.com/2021/07/28/ron-popeil-dead-dies-infomercial/|access-date=2021-07-29|website=TMZ|language=en}} After retiring, Popeil continued to invent products including the 5-in-1 Turkey Fryer & Food Cooking System which he had been developing for over ten years.

Popeil's success in infomercials, memorable marketing personality, and ubiquity on American television have allowed him and his products to appear in a variety of popular media environments including cameo appearances on television shows such as The X-Files,{{efn|In the episode "Beyond the Sea", Special Agent Dana Scully is shown sleeping with her television on while Ron Popeil touts the wonders of his Spray-On Hair (Great Looking Hair Formula #9) for only $39.92. The ad continues for a few seconds, displaying the product's fabulous abilities before shifting to show Scully awakening to the ghost of her recently deceased father.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} Futurama,{{efn|In the episode "A Big Piece of Garbage", Ron Popeil is said to be the inventor of a fictional technology which allows heads to be kept alive in jars indefinitely. Popeil appears in the episode as one of the talking heads. ({{cite web |last1=Bratskeir |first1=Kate |title=8 Reasons You Shouldn't Underestimate The Greatness Of Ron Popeil: 8 Things You Never Knew About Ron Popeil, The Greatest Inventor Of All Time |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-popeil-facts-wow_n_5926408 |website=Huffington Post |access-date=March 7, 2023 |date=December 6, 2017}})}}{{efn|In the episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", Fry keeps his lucky seven-leaf clover in a "Ronco Record Vault".{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} King of the Hill,{{efn|In the episode "Won't You Pimai Neighbor?", Dale Gribble states that if Bobby Hill incorrectly chooses from among the items possibly owned by the late Lama Sanglung, Bobby Hill will win a cap snaffler and that the cap snaffler, "Snaffles caps of any size jug, bottle or jar... and it really really works".{{cn|date=August 2021}}}}{{efn|In the episode "The Perils of Polling", Dale Gribble asks if Hank got him a cap snaffler while Hank and Dale are being escorted to the polling place by the police.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} The Simpsons,{{efn|In the episode entitled "Radio Bart", Bart Simpson receives a "Superstar Celebrity Microphone" for his birthday. The toy and the TV advertisements for it were modeled after Ronco's "Mr. Microphone".{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} Sex and the City,{{efn|Season 4 Episode 13 where the character Miranda is seen watching a Ron Popeil infomercial{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} The Daily Show,{{efn|The famous line "Set it and forget it!", from the Showtime Rotisserie commercial, was used after showing the "catch phrase" discussions of the Senate debating the War in Iraq.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} and The West Wing.{{efn|Season 4 Episode 15 where President Bartlet is zapping through the TV program and sees a glimpse of Ron Popeil jumping on the stage in an informercial.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} Parodies of Popeil's infomercials were done on the comedy show Saturday Night Live by Dan Aykroyd{{efn|The "Veg-O-Matic" was parodied as the "Super Bass-O-Matic '76". This parody is mentioned in the Biography episode on Popeil.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} and Eddie Murphy(September 25, 1982) Saturday Night Live commercial for the "Popeil Galactic Prophylactic".{{cn|date=August 2021}} and the "Veg-O-Matic" may have provided comedian Gallagher inspiration for the "Sledge-O-Matic" routine since the 1980s. The animated series VeggieTales once featured a parody of the "Veg-O-Matic" dubbed as the "Forgive-O-Matic".{{efn| VeggieTales: "God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!". Released October 1994{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} "Additionally, the professional wrestling tag team The Midnight Express dubbed their finishing move the Veg-O-Matic.{{cite news |last1=Eighinger |first1=S. |title=Legendary 'hair in a can' remains all-time king of infomercials |url=https://www.whig.com/archive/article/eighinger-legendary-hair-in-a-can-remains-all-time-king-of-infomercials/article_99f90373-92b6-5491-9d84-356e8b332b5d.html |access-date=September 1, 2021 |work=Herald-Whig |date=October 30, 2020}}

Popeil was voted by Self magazine readers as one of the 25 people who have changed the way we eat, drink and think about food.{{cite web|url=http://www.ronco.com/index.aspx|title=ronco.com|access-date=April 16, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110417144418/http://www.ronco.com/index.aspx|archive-date=April 17, 2011}}

Popeil has been referenced in the music of Alice Cooper, the Beastie Boys, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Yankovic's song "Mr. Popeil" was a tribute (and featured his sister Lisa Popeil on backing vocals). Ron Popeil later used this song in some of his infomercials.{{cite web |last1=Cudmore |first1=Libby |title='Weird Al' Yankovic's 'In 3-D' Turns 35 {{!}} Anniversary Retrospective |url=https://www.albumism.com/features/weird-al-yankovic-in-3-d-turns-35-anniversary-retrospective |website=Albumism |access-date=September 1, 2021 |date=February 27, 2019}}

In the 2007 film Funny Games, one of the characters is channel surfing and briefly flicks past an infomercial for Ron Popeil's Vegetable Dehydrator. In the 1996 horror film Scream, the catchphrase is said ("But wait, there's more!"), itself in the tradition of a horror film's saying of a famous TV catchphrase, in the 1980s horror film The Shining{{'s}} saying of "Here's Johnny!" (Carson) by announcer Ed McMahon.

In Malcolm Gladwell's book What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Popeil is interviewed and many of his products, most notably the Veg-O-Matic and Showtime Rotisserie, are discussed. Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 New Yorker piece "The Pitchman" about Popeil won Gladwell the 2001 National Magazine award.Malcolm Gladwell, [http://gladwell.com/the-pitchman/ "The Pitchman"]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083142/http://gladwell.com/the-pitchman/ |date=November 15, 2017}}. The New Yorker.

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|author=Timothy Samuelson|title=But Wait! There's More!|publisher=Rizzoli|year=2002|isbn=0-8478-2431-4}}
• {{Cite book|author=Ron Popeil|title=The Salesman of the Century|isbn=978-0-385-31378-0|publisher=Delacorte Press|year=1995|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/salesmanofcentur00pope}}
• {{Cite book|author=Malcolm Gladwell|title=What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures|url=https://archive.org/details/whatdogsawothera00glad|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0-316-07632-6|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|year=2009}}
• {{Cite book|author=Los Angeles Times|title=Still Slicing and Dicing|date=December 15, 1995|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-15-ls-14283-story.html}}

• [http://www.biography.com/people/ron-popeil-177863 Synopsis of the Biography of Ron Popeil on A & E] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122094531/https://www.biography.com/people/ron-popeil-177863 |date=January 22, 2019}}
• {{cite web |title=Inventor Ron Popeil Biography |url=http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/popeil.htm |website=The Great Idea Finder |access-date=July 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031205936/http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/popeil.htm |archive-date=2006-10-31 |date=October 19, 2006 |url-status=dead}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051213014554/http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/051003/244/ftjc7.html |date=December 13, 2005 |title=He Invents! Markets! Makes Millions!}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060812233048/http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/june/ronco/ |date=August 12, 2006 |title= NPR: But Wait! There's More!}}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418220426/http://www.freeenterpriseland.com/BOOK/RONCO.html |date=April 18, 2012 |title=FreeEnterpriseLand: But Wait, There's More!}}

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Category:1935 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:20th-century American inventors

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:American businesspeople in retailing

Category:American salespeople

Category:Businesspeople from New York City

Category:Ig Nobel laureates

Category:Infomercial pitchmen

Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni