Personal Life and Career
Popeil learned his trade from his father, Samuel, who was also an inventor and carny salesman of kitchen-related gadgets such as the Chop-O-Matic and the Veg-O-Matic. The Chop-O-Matic retailed for US$3.98 and sold over two million units. The invention of the Chop-O-Matic caused a problem that marked the entrance of Ron Popeil into television. It turned out that the Chop-O-Matic was so efficient at chopping vegetables, that it was impractical for salesmen to carry the vegetables they needed to chop. The solution was to tape the demonstration. Once the demonstration was taped, it was a short step to broadcasting the demonstration as a commercial.
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.
In August 2005, he sold his company, Ronco, to Fi-Tek VII, a Denver holding company, for US$55 million. He said he plans to continue serving as the spokesman and inventor, but wants to spend more time with his family. As of 2006, he lives in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife, Robin Popeil and two of his five daughters. Ashley Tisdale is his cousin.
Although Popeil often receives credit for having been the first to use this phrase, "But wait, there's more," its origin is attributed to the State Fair JAM Auctioneers. The JAM Auctioneers also were the first to use the phrase, "How much would you pay?" Ed Valenti, founder and seller of the Ginsu knife added the word "Now" to that phrase in the 1970s. Like the JAM Auctioneers of past, each time that question was asked, another item would be added to the sale, thus enhancing the audience's and potential buyers' perceived value of the purchase.
Read more about this topic: Ron Popeil
Famous quotes containing the words personal, life and/or career:
“Oh, what a catastrophe for man when he cut himself off from the rhythm of the year, from his unison with the sun and the earth. Oh, what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was a personal, merely personal feeling, taken away from the rising and the setting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connection of the solstice and the equinox!”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The forest waves, the morning breaks,
The pastures sleep, ripple the lakes,
Leaves twinkle, flowers like persons be
And life pulsates in rock or tree.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“I began my editorial career with the presidency of Mr. Adams, and my principal object was to render his administration all the assistance in my power. I flattered myself with the hope of accompanying him through [his] voyage, and of partaking in a trifling degree, of the glory of the enterprise; but he suddenly tacked about, and I could follow him no longer. I therefore waited for the first opportunity to haul down my sails.”
—William Cobbett (17621835)