Photo: Reed Saxon/AP/Shutterstock
Ron Popeil, the infomercial icon who popularized the catchphrase “set it, and forget it” for Showtime Rotisserie oven, has died. He was 86.
“He lived his life to the fullest and passed in the loving arms of his family,” the statement read. “The father of the television infomercial, Ron Popeil, was a trailblazer; he rose from a modest upbringing in a fractured home to become a ubiquitous name and face in direct-to-consumer marketing and inventing.”
A cause of death was not given.According to TMZ, who was first to report the death, Popeil died after experiencing a severe medical emergency on Tuesday.
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Learning the tricks of the trade from his dad, Popeil began selling products made at his father’s factory at a small table on Maxwell Street and quickly honed his craft of creating snappy pitches.
By 17, he had his own stand at Chicago’s flagship Woolworth store, working 12-hour shifts for six days a week,according to his biographyon his website. Popeil’s magnetic personality drew crowds and he eventually took his business on the road for state fair season.
However, in order to reach a wider audience all year around, Popeil needed to think bigger. In 1959, he took his talents to television, filming his first infomercial for the Chop-o-Matic.
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He formed his own company, Ronco, in 1964 and continued distributing his own father’s products as well as his own.
He coined the catchphrase “set it, and forget it” through his pitch of the Showtime Rotisserie over, and popularized iconic informercial phrases such as “but wait there’s more” and “less shipping and handling” through his various television appearances over the years.
In addition to his marketing work, Popeil served as the director of MGM Resorts International for more than three decades. He alsoheld the Guinness World Recordfor the largest collection of olive oil with a total of 2,240 bottles.
source: people.com
