Vince Offer
Encyclopedia
Offer "Vince" Shlomi (born April 25, 1964), known as Vince Offer, the ShamWow! Guy, or Headset Vince, is an infomercial pitchman, writer, director, and comedian
. Offer's first major work was the 1999 comedy film The Underground Comedy Movie, which was met with negative reception. In the late 2000s, Offer began appearing on television commercials for the products ShamWow!, a super-absorbent towel, and the Slap Chop, a kitchen utensil.
said it "may be the least amusing comedy ever made," and Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times
described the movie as "a series of sketches built around subjects like masturbation
, defecation
, alienation, urination
, necrophilia
, voyeurism
, casual brutality, and mockery of the unfortunate." He added that Offer "makes the common mistake of equating the recognition of comic potential for comedy itself. For the successful, talent bridges the gap, but, here, it is absent." DVDs of the film were marketed via television infomercial
.
The film also led to several lawsuits. Offer filed a copyright-infringement suit against Peter
and Bobby Farrelly
and Twentieth Century Fox, claiming that 14 scenes in There's Something About Mary
were taken from his own film. The Farrelly brothers responded, "We've never heard of him, we've never heard of his movie, and it's all a bunch of baloney." The case was dismissed with prejudice on a motion for summary judgment
by order of the court in 2000, and Twentieth Century Fox was awarded $
66,336.92 in attorneys' fees. In addition, Offer successfully sued Anna Nicole Smith
for breach of contract, alleging that Smith had agreed to appear in The Underground Comedy Movie but backed out, claiming it would hurt her career.
In 2004, Offer, an ex-Scientologist
, sued the Church of Scientology
with the help of attorney Ford Greene
. He alleged that the church had declared him a criminal and had urged its members to commit libel against him. Offer claimed that the church's actions caused him to lose a successful business, as many of his employees were Scientologists who quit upon learning of what the church did.
In June 2010, it was revealed that Offer had completed filming of scenes starring Lindsay Lohan
and model Joanna Krupa
for a brand-new "Underground Comedy" movie; in 2011, it was later revealed that other celebrities, including Rob Schneider
, Adrien Brody
and Michelle Rodriguez
had all signed on to appear in the new sketch comedy project as well. The production company, Square One Entertainment, said the film was slated for a 2012 theatrical release.
marketing, he decided to put the trailer on an infomercial, and sold 50,000 copies via direct order.
s, he decided in 2006 to market a cleaning product that he saw there, an absorbent towel that he called the ShamWow!.
The advertisement, filmed in the summer of 2007 with a budget of $20,000, became a popular hit. Slate.com's
Seth Stevenson praised Offer for his "impressive and subtle mastery of the pitchman's art" (with lines such as "you know the Germans always make good stuff"), and wondered if Offer's "abrasive manner might also mark a unique, new strategy in the annals of pitchdom." Stevenson compared Offer to earlier, "more upbeat" television pitchmen like the late Billy Mays
and the Home Shopping Network
hosts and concluded that Offer's "smooth-talking condescension" was more suited to the present "zeitgeist
" than the "earnest fervor" of spokesmen like Mays and Ron Popeil
.
Consumer Reports
reported that the infomercial for ShamWow! initially featured Offer claiming that the product held "20 times its weight in liquid". Later, the infomercial was changed to Offer claiming the ShamWow! held "12 times its weight in liquid", then again to "10 times". Consumer Reports did its own test on the product and found that it does indeed hold 10 times its weight in liquid but no more.
Offer says that he has sold millions of the towels. Notwithstanding his infomercial success, Offer says that "this is not my career" and that he considers himself to be in the film business.
Pitchman Billy Mays had been promoting a similar product called Zorbeez
two years prior to Vinces Offer's ShamWow! product. Mays noted that the ShamWow! commercials use many of the same product demonstrations as the earlier-produced Zorbeez commercial. In February 2009 while on the Adam Carolla
radio show, Billy Mays publicly challenged Offer to a "pitch off" between their respective absorbent towel products.
Popular Mechanics tested the absorbency of the two towel products and declared ShamWow! was the more effective of the two, but noted "If you have reusable cloth rags (and a roll of paper towels for backup), then neither product is necessary."
In December 2008, Offer, who had previously sold kitchen utensils at swap meets, appeared in another kitchen-gadget
infomercial, advertising the Slap Chop and the Graty. The Slap Chop is a hand-held chopping device with internal blades; to operate it, the user places it over a food item and slaps down the button on the top. The Graty is a cheese grater operated by placing the cheese inside and then turning the outside housing of the utensil which causes the cheese to be grated. Both of these devices are offered in several colors. Offer's aggressiveness
and use of double entendre
s like "you're gonna love my nuts" have earned him notoriety, and, according to an Adweek
blog, helped make Offer "the man who could beat Billy Mays at his own game."
Billy Mays
had been promoting a similar product set which included the Quick Chop utensil and the Quick Grater utensil prior to Vince Offer's Slap Chop/Graty product set. Mays again noted that the Slap Chop commercials use many of the same demos as the earlier-produced Quick Chop commercial. Mays said in the same Adam Carolla
radio show interview in February 2009 that Offer stole not only the Zorbeez product idea, but also the Quick Chop idea.
on a charge of felony battery
after an altercation with a 26-year-old prostitute. Offer contended that he struck the prostitute when she "bit his tongue and would not let go." Prosecutors later declined to file formal charges against either individual.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. Offer's first major work was the 1999 comedy film The Underground Comedy Movie, which was met with negative reception. In the late 2000s, Offer began appearing on television commercials for the products ShamWow!, a super-absorbent towel, and the Slap Chop, a kitchen utensil.
The Underground Comedy Movie
In 1999, Vince Offer wrote, directed and appeared in The Underground Comedy Movie, which was met with less-than-favorable reviews. The New York PostNew York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
said it "may be the least amusing comedy ever made," and Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described the movie as "a series of sketches built around subjects like masturbation
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
, defecation
Defecation
Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus. Waves of muscular contraction known as peristalsis in the walls of the colon move fecal matter through the digestive tract towards the rectum...
, alienation, urination
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
, necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
, voyeurism
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
, casual brutality, and mockery of the unfortunate." He added that Offer "makes the common mistake of equating the recognition of comic potential for comedy itself. For the successful, talent bridges the gap, but, here, it is absent." DVDs of the film were marketed via television infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
.
The film also led to several lawsuits. Offer filed a copyright-infringement suit against Peter
Peter Farrelly
Peter John Farrelly is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. The Farrelly Brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing gross-out humor romantic comedy films such as, Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, There's Something About Mary and The Heartbreak...
and Bobby Farrelly
Bobby Farrelly
Robert Leo "Bobby" Farrelly, Jr. is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Life and career:Farrelly was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, the son of Mariann, a nurse practitioner, and Robert Leo Farrelly, a doctor. He is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has been...
and Twentieth Century Fox, claiming that 14 scenes in There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary is a 1998 American comedy film, directed by the Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter. It stars Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon and Ben Stiller, and it is a combination of romantic comedy and gross-out film....
were taken from his own film. The Farrelly brothers responded, "We've never heard of him, we've never heard of his movie, and it's all a bunch of baloney." The case was dismissed with prejudice on a motion for summary judgment
Summary judgment
In law, a summary judgment is a determination made by a court without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued as to the merits of an entire case, or of specific issues in that case....
by order of the court in 2000, and Twentieth Century Fox was awarded $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
66,336.92 in attorneys' fees. In addition, Offer successfully sued Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith
In 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboys...
for breach of contract, alleging that Smith had agreed to appear in The Underground Comedy Movie but backed out, claiming it would hurt her career.
In 2004, Offer, an ex-Scientologist
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
, sued the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
with the help of attorney Ford Greene
Ford Greene
Aylsworth Crawford Greene III is an American attorney from San Anselmo, California, noted for having successfully conducted litigation against Scientology and alleged cults. Greene is currently the mayor of San Anselmo and a twice-elected San Anselmo town councilman...
. He alleged that the church had declared him a criminal and had urged its members to commit libel against him. Offer claimed that the church's actions caused him to lose a successful business, as many of his employees were Scientologists who quit upon learning of what the church did.
In June 2010, it was revealed that Offer had completed filming of scenes starring Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
and model Joanna Krupa
Joanna Krupa
Joanna Krupa is a Polish-American model and actress. Krupa was born in Warsaw, Poland. She has a younger sister, Marta Krupa, also a model. Joanna Krupa moved to India, Delhi, Illinois, with her family at the age of five...
for a brand-new "Underground Comedy" movie; in 2011, it was later revealed that other celebrities, including Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider
Robert Michael "Rob" Schneider is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live, Schneider has gone on to a successful career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow:...
, Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody is an American actor and film producer. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist . Winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2003 at age 29, he is the youngest actor to do so...
and Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
had all signed on to appear in the new sketch comedy project as well. The production company, Square One Entertainment, said the film was slated for a 2012 theatrical release.
Infomercial marketing
Offer, who funded The Underground Comedy Movie with his own money, had trouble selling it. Inspired by the success of Girls Gone WildGirls Gone Wild
The Girls Gone Wild franchise, created by Joe Francis, is a video series by the production company Mantra Films, Inc., which is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.-Content:...
marketing, he decided to put the trailer on an infomercial, and sold 50,000 copies via direct order.
ShamWow!
The success of The Underground Comedy Movie infomercial suggested to Offer that he should sell something more mainstream. Drawing upon his experience working in flea marketFlea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
s, he decided in 2006 to market a cleaning product that he saw there, an absorbent towel that he called the ShamWow!.
The advertisement, filmed in the summer of 2007 with a budget of $20,000, became a popular hit. Slate.com's
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
Seth Stevenson praised Offer for his "impressive and subtle mastery of the pitchman's art" (with lines such as "you know the Germans always make good stuff"), and wondered if Offer's "abrasive manner might also mark a unique, new strategy in the annals of pitchdom." Stevenson compared Offer to earlier, "more upbeat" television pitchmen like the late Billy Mays
Billy Mays
William Darrell "Billy" Mays, Jr. was an American television direct-response advertisement salesperson most notable for promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products on the Home Shopping Network, and through his company, Mays Promotions, Inc...
and the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
hosts and concluded that Offer's "smooth-talking condescension" was more suited to the present "zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.The...
" than the "earnest fervor" of spokesmen like Mays and Ron Popeil
Ron Popeil
Ronald M. Popeil is an American inventor and marketing personality, best known for his direct response marketing company Ronco...
.
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
reported that the infomercial for ShamWow! initially featured Offer claiming that the product held "20 times its weight in liquid". Later, the infomercial was changed to Offer claiming the ShamWow! held "12 times its weight in liquid", then again to "10 times". Consumer Reports did its own test on the product and found that it does indeed hold 10 times its weight in liquid but no more.
Offer says that he has sold millions of the towels. Notwithstanding his infomercial success, Offer says that "this is not my career" and that he considers himself to be in the film business.
Pitchman Billy Mays had been promoting a similar product called Zorbeez
Zorbeez
Zorbeez is a cloth which is claimed by manufacturer Vertical Branding to be capable of absorbing over 20 fluid oz. of liquid.However, it has often been tested with mixed results. In March of 2009, Popular Mechanics tested Zorbeez against competitor ShamWow, and Zorbeez was found to be inferior. ...
two years prior to Vinces Offer's ShamWow! product. Mays noted that the ShamWow! commercials use many of the same product demonstrations as the earlier-produced Zorbeez commercial. In February 2009 while on the Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
radio show, Billy Mays publicly challenged Offer to a "pitch off" between their respective absorbent towel products.
Popular Mechanics tested the absorbency of the two towel products and declared ShamWow! was the more effective of the two, but noted "If you have reusable cloth rags (and a roll of paper towels for backup), then neither product is necessary."
This result had been hotly contested by Billy Mays before his death, and was a major part of the season finale of his Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show PitchMenPitchMenPitchMen is a docudrama television program produced for the Discovery Channel in the United States. The show followed infomercial producers and talent Billy Mays and Anthony "Sully" Sullivan as they attempted to sell various inventions through direct-response marketing. The series was narrated by...
.
During the episode, it was suggested that the Popular Mechanics tester did not use the Zorbeez correctly.
Fox's "Deal or Dud" segment tested the ShamWow and struggled to get the product working as advertised, calling it a "dud."
Slap Chopper
Kitchen gadget
A kitchen utensil is a hand-held, typically small tool or utensil that is used in the kitchen, for food-related functions. A cooking utensil is a utensil used in the kitchen for cooking...
infomercial, advertising the Slap Chop and the Graty. The Slap Chop is a hand-held chopping device with internal blades; to operate it, the user places it over a food item and slaps down the button on the top. The Graty is a cheese grater operated by placing the cheese inside and then turning the outside housing of the utensil which causes the cheese to be grated. Both of these devices are offered in several colors. Offer's aggressiveness
Hard sell
In advertising, a hard sell is an advertisement or campaign that uses a more direct, forceful, and overt sales message. This approach works in opposition to a soft sell....
and use of double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
s like "you're gonna love my nuts" have earned him notoriety, and, according to an Adweek
Adweek
Adweek is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1978....
blog, helped make Offer "the man who could beat Billy Mays at his own game."
Billy Mays
Billy Mays
William Darrell "Billy" Mays, Jr. was an American television direct-response advertisement salesperson most notable for promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products on the Home Shopping Network, and through his company, Mays Promotions, Inc...
had been promoting a similar product set which included the Quick Chop utensil and the Quick Grater utensil prior to Vince Offer's Slap Chop/Graty product set. Mays again noted that the Slap Chop commercials use many of the same demos as the earlier-produced Quick Chop commercial. Mays said in the same Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
radio show interview in February 2009 that Offer stole not only the Zorbeez product idea, but also the Quick Chop idea.
Arrest
On February 7, 2009, Offer was arrested in Miami Beach, FloridaMiami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
on a charge of felony battery
Aggravated battery
Aggravated battery in criminal law is a more serious form of battery, and is considered a felony. Aggravated battery can be punished by a fine or more than a year in prison in some countries...
after an altercation with a 26-year-old prostitute. Offer contended that he struck the prostitute when she "bit his tongue and would not let go." Prosecutors later declined to file formal charges against either individual.