Ronald M. Popeil (born May 3, 1935, Chicago, Illinois) is a millionaire inventor well-known for his company Ronco [1]. His television sales techniques might be considered the origin of infomercials.

Some of his better-known products include:

• Popeil Pocket Fisherman
• Mr. Microphone
• Inside-The-Shell Egg Scrambler
• Six Star+ 20 Piece Cutlery Set
• Solid Flavor Injector
• GLH-9 Hair in a Can spray
• Drain Buster
• Electric Food Dehydrator
• Showtime Rotisserie and Barbecue - "Set it, and forget it!"

Popeil learned his trade from his father Samuel who was also an inventor and carney salesman of kitchen-related gadgets such as the Chop-o-matic (later called the Vegomatic - "It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries!"). The invention of the Vegomatic caused a problem which marked the entrance of Ron Popeil into television. It turned out that the Vegomatic was too efficient at chopping vegetables, and 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.

Impact on popular culture

• In Futurama, Popeil is said to be the inventor of the technology that allows heads to be kept alive in jars indefinitely.
• Weird Al Yankovic recorded the song "Mr. Popeil" from album Weird Al Yankovic in 3-D.
• "Dodge Veg-O-Matic" is a song by Jonathan Richman from the album Rock N Roll With The Modern Lovers (1977).

External links

• A short biography of Ron Popeil
• Ronco.com