Are infomercials really what they seem? Infomercials are televised commercials that attempt to market and sell some admittedly ridiculous items to viewers.

For what they advertise, infomercials are not what they seem. Products, more often than not, don’t end up being the special thing someone saw on the television.

“[The products] just don’t look like they’re useful,” said freshman Tara Callan. “And they probably aren’t even worth it.”

Admittedly, there must be products on the market that truly are what they advertise, but for the most part, infomercials have a bad reputation for being tricks.

Some products such as the infamous Snuggie, the blanket with arms, turned out to be a gimmick; a fuzzy cloth with sleeves attached.

Despite being advertised in a way that shows that they can be worn outside comfortably and the user can be kept warm and cozy next to a guy who is dramatically shivering, one could get more warmth and coziness out of a normal blanket.

At least the Snuggie can be used as a makeshift bathrobe, or maybe just a casual blanket that can be worn around the house for cooler days.

The products are advertised in such a way that people are influenced into buying them. A lot of it is not really what it seems, simply smoke and mirrors. The advertisements exaggerate the truth and make a product seem a lot more usable than it really is.

“I’d rather have it physically in front of me before I can decide if it’s worth it or not,” commented junior Maggie Tsang. “I don’t trust what I see on TV.”

Many items are actually available for purchase in stores with little “As Seen on TV” logos pasted on them to even further market the products.

But even their functionality is hard to determine when the products are wrapped up in a pretty box with demonstrations and uses printed on the cardboard or paper.

Unfortunately, some students can fall victim to the purportedly good-looking products on television and end up buying them.

“I bought an InStyler thing that’s supposed to style your hair nicely,” said freshman Sabrina Cojocaru. “It didn’t work like it said it would.”

According to television infomercials, the InStyler is a new hair styling tool that straightens, polishes and styles hair by means of a rotating heated cylinder and brush bristles. In the advertisement, many people’s hair is being perfectly straightened, polished, and styled, like a dream.

Although they look like worthwhile products and ideas on the television, products of infomercials are often useless things that really no one absolutely needs.

Regrettably buying a piece or merchandise off of what one has only seen in a most likely fake demonstration on TV, it hardly seems worth it.
  
To buy the items, a purchaser should be able to see the item in the store and handle it before buying it to determine to their best ability whether or not to buy the product, and also be able to determine whether or not the item being sold is just as useful as it appears to be on TV.