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Products Touted By Schlocky TV Ads Are On A Retail Shelf Near You

Matt Robinson reports that more than 90% of TeleBrands' sales now come from major retailers. Drugstore giant CVS says "As Seen on TV" products constitute one of its largest general merchandise categories, and it displays a new item each month at the end of an aisle -- prime retail real estate. Rather than just enticing viewers to pick up the phone and order from a telemarketing center, the TV ads now are used to build the brand before goods are sold at retailers or online, acting as a movie trailer.

Traditional advertisers "can't ignore [infomercials] anymore. Before they saw it as carnival-y," says Allstar CEO Scott Boilen. "You can't ignore the Ped Egg, and the Topsy Turvy [Tomato Planter]," which grows tomatoes upside down and has been snapped up by some 10 million customers.

Large companies are taking notice. Tim Hawthorne, founder of Hawthorne Direct, an infomercial ad agency, said he recently helped a Fortune 500 client increase retail sales by 100% after an infomercial aired for a 10-year-old product. Companies can often recoup advertising dollars even by selling a limited number of items, he says.

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Read the whole story at Bloomberg Businessweek »

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