A Tragic Loss

Every once in a while, a person comes along that changes life for the average American.
They modify the way things are done.
They add their own phrases to the American lexicon.
They are burned forever into the American psyche.

One such man recently passed away.

No, not the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin! Please.
He just got what was eventually coming.
After all, these are called WILD animals for a reason.
Just ask Siegfried and Roy.

The man of whom I speak is Arthur Schiff.

Stop scratching your head, I'll tell you.

Arthur Schiff was a marketing genius.

From the Washington Post:

Arthur Schiff was an ingenious salesman, a veritable artist of American capitalism. He sold everything, and sold it by the trainload: pots and pans, pantyhose, wrinkle cream, teeth whiteners, windshield wipers, scratch removers and weed whackers. Anyone who ever watched television in the graveyard hours knows Schiff's work. Likely as not, it enchanted, amused, appalled or got them to reach for their wallets and their phones.

Over more than 30 years, Schiff created some 1,800 "long-form" or "direct response" TV commercials. He was the unseen king of the infomercial, the hidden hand behind the "amazing" Steakhouse Onion Machine, the "miraculous" Ambervision Sunglasses and the "revolutionary" Shiwala car mop.

That's right, Arthur is the King of the Infomercial, before the word was even invented.
His most famous product? The Ginsu Knife.

And those phrases?
"But wait, there's more!"
"Isn't that amazing?"
"Now how much would you pay?"
"Act now and you'll also receive . . . "

Love him or hate him, television, and America, will never be the same.