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K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including The Super Hits series, The Dynamic Hits series and The Number One Hits series and consumer products, including the Record Selector, the Veg-O-Matic, the Miracle Brush, and the Feather Touch Knife. The company has sold more than half a billion units worldwide.
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The Scott Fetzer Company, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is an American diversified manufacturer and marketer of products for the home, family, and industry comprising 33 brands, headquartered in Westlake, Ohio.
Eicoff is one of the top ten advertising agencies in Chicago. It specializes in direct response television (DRTV) advertising. It is known as the firm that popularized 1-800 call numbers and claims to have coined the "… or your money back" catchphrase.
Ed Valenti is an American television personality and entrepreneur best known as an early pioneer of infomercials and for creating the Ginsu knives. In 1975, Valenti and his business partner Barry Becher founded Dial Media, Inc., one of the first major infomercial companies in the world. Valenti is credited with coining a number of phrases widely adopted by the industry, including: “But wait, there’s more!”, “Now how much would you pay?” and “This is a limited-time offer, so call now.”
Beaver Falls Cutlery Company, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, is a former company which manufactured steel cutlery, razors and pocketknives. The company was founded as Binns & Mason in 1866 by skilled cutlers from Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, as a small enterprise making pocketknives in Rochester, Pennsylvania, then it briefly became The Pittsburgh Cutlery Company. It was purchased in 1867 by the Harmony Society, brought to Beaver Falls, and developed for mass production, to employ 300 people and to cover a two-acre site. In 1872 it suffered a labor dispute which was resolved by the employment of up to 225 Chinese workers. In 1876 it produced the "largest knife and fork in the world," of its time, for display at the Centennial Exposition. The company closed in 1886.
References
- ↑ Dennis Hevesi (June 30, 2012). "Barry Becher, a Creator of Ginsu Knife Commercials, Dies at 71". The New York Times .
- 1 2 Valenti, Ed (2005). The Wisdom of Ginsu: Carve Yourself a Piece of the American Dream . Career Press, Incorporated. ISBN 1564148033.
- ↑ "Night of the receptive zombies". Financial Times.
- ↑ "Barry Becher, co-creator of the Ginsu knife TV commercials, dies at 71". The Washington Post .
- ↑ "Barry Becher, marketer who helped bring Ginsu knives to U.S. public, dies at 71". The Los Angeles Times .
- ↑ "Ginsu Knife Pitch Co-Creator, Barry Becher, Dies". ABC News.
- ↑ Valenti, Ed (2016). The Wisdom of Ginsu: Carve Yourself a Piece of the American Dream. Lancet. ISBN 978-1564148032.
- ↑ Cooney didn't co-found it. He met Valenti and Becher after they founded the company in 1975, when he was 16 or 17; 17-July-2017 edit summary
- ↑ "Infomercial pioneer Barry Becher of Ginsu knives fame dies at 71". Cleveland.
- ↑ Harry, Lou (2002). As Seen on TV - 50 Amazing Products and the Commercials that Made Them Famous. Quirk Productionsn, Inc. ISBN 978-1422366998.
- ↑ Valenti, Edward (2005). The Wisdom of Ginsu: Carve Yourself a Piece of the American Dream . Quirk Productions, Inc Career Press (March 2005). ISBN 978-1564148032.
- ↑ "Barry Becher, co-creator of the Ginsu knife TV commercials, dies at 71". Washington Post.