'As Seen on TV'

You’ve heard it before. The pitch that claims your life will be easier with just two easy payments.

“As Seen on TV” gadgets — the Hanger Cascader, Grill Daddy Pro and Wizz-It — may not live up to the hype.

Yet we continue to buy them, especially at Christmastime. Don’t blush. Chances are your neighbors have a garage full of them, too.

Big, goofy gadgets have become fixtures in American popular culture. Smart promoting and serious advertising have made household names out of things like Ginsu knives and the Clapper. Some of the items “40-something” folks remember from their childhood are still moneymakers today.

Take the Chia Pet. The animal-shaped clay figure that grows plant sprouts swept the 1980s, selling millions and continuing to be in high demand.

Then there was the Club. The must-have anti-theft steering-wheel lock of the 1990s. And now it’s the Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves.

“Infomercial gadgets are popular and quick fixes,” said Karen Bard, eBay’s pop culture expert. “They’re ingenious ideas. They elicit a response. People think to themselves, ‘God, if I thought of that Snuggie or Shamwow, I’d be rich.’”

So people buy them. When they break, they buy them again.

Don’t ask Omahan Ashley Morrison about her Chia unless you have time for a story.

“I loved my Chia Pet until my friend broke it,” she said. “Some friend.”

She received the clay figurine while in junior high a few Christmases ago. She was 13 when she first heard the “cha-cha Chia” jingle.

“It was awesome,” she said. “I begged for one.”

The 23-year-old didn’t start growing the sprouts until she left for college. The Chia became her dorm room plant, the only greenery she’s kept.

“A great conversation starter, that’s for sure,” she said. “No one else had one in college.”

For giggles, people would ask about her Chia. When the pet broke, Morrison sulked for days.

“That was the end of my Chia pet,” she said. “I was mad.”

Morrison plans to replace it. She’s thinking maybe a Chia that looks like Albert Einstein this time around. On her Christmas shopping list, she needs a Chia for a friend.

“It goes back to that running joke,” she said. “It started out as a creative and fun idea but sort of became the ultimate gag gift.”

Also on the Morrison shopping list is a Snuggie for her boyfriend.

“It’s totally appropriate for playing video games,” she said. “He can stay warm while he uses the controller.”

Although many Snuggie buyers may be better served by wearing a bathrobe, there’s a kitschy appeal to them. TV commercials showing people sporting them in public — to a football game or at the movies — make the gift more comical.

“A lot of these gifts are given in a humorous spirit,” said Robert Dornsife, a pop culture watcher and associate professor at Creighton University. “People know they don’t really need a Snuggie. But for $15 or $20, it’s a good laugh.”

The same goes for the Flowbee, a vacuum hair trimmer that’s supposed to cut your hair evenly.

“Imagine that,” Dornsife scoffed, “evenly.”

Bard likes kitschy products — Mr. Microphone, the Popiel Pocket Fisherman, Big Mouth Billy Bass and the Neck Slimmer — because they’re fun.

“They appeal to everyone’s inventor side,” she added.

And thanks to impulsive buyers, companies keep making them.

Omahan Ernest “DZ” Woods bought a Club steering-wheel lock six years ago for his 1967 Ford Galaxie. Whenever people walked by, they’d immediately notice the yellow-and-red lock latched.

“So the Club worked,” he said.

But the metal bar didn’t save Woods from totaling his car in an accident.

Woods kept the Club and still uses it to lock up his 1995 Toyota Camry. His mom has one, too.

“Most thefts are in-and-out,” Woods said. “A car alarm can be altered. No one is going to take the time to saw that thing off.”

It’s that kind of legend around the products that helps them sell. And advertisements certainly play up that aspect.

We’ve all seen the Snuggie TV commercial at least a dozen times, right? Salesmen reel people in with phrases, such as “limited time” and “only a few.”

“Scarcity causes popularity,” Dornsife said. “As soon as we hear something is in short supply, then all the kids want it. They want to be one of the lucky ones.”

Now with eBay you see what the market value is for those rare gizmos and toys. And parents are willing to pay top dollar for hot items.

“It’s Christmas, so you don’t want to disappoint,” Dornsife said.

Look at the Cabbage Patch Kids craze. Children wanted them because each doll had its own birth certificate with a computer generated name. When parents heard there were only a few on store shelves, they ran out and bought them all up.

Tickle Me Elmo and Teletubbies inspired the same “gimme, gimme” sentiments. When the Nintendo Wii was released, it was hard to find.

This year’s hot find is Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters. The robotic pets retail for $8 but fetch $36 on eBay. Multiple hamsters go for as much as $150.

“It’s an interesting phenomenon,” Bard said. “My niece loves them. We’ve seen a huge demand for Zhu Zhu Pets on eBay. They’re just one of those runaway pop-culture items that have people clamoring.”

Before you break your bank, remember they’re still silly gadgets like the robotic hamsters.

“People get them, use them very briefly and don’t use them again,” Dornsife said. “They’re often more trouble than they’re worth.”

Contact the writer:

444-1075, j.loza@owh.com

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