We didn’t call them “infomercials” back then—heck, most people who were around at that time didn’t even own a TV—but this year marks the 60th anniversary of those long-form television ads.
Vita-Mix, credited with producing the very first infomercial way back in 1949, is celebrating the birth of the genre with ‘Pitch Me!’ a national video competition to discover the next great Vita-Mix TV demonstration star. (Yes, the Vita-Mix folks are still cranking out those infomercials.)
Vita-Mix created the world’s first television infomercial during which company founder William G. ‘Papa’ Barnard demonstrated how to mix up healthy, whole foods in a Vita-Mix machine. You can watch his historic infomercial here.
The company says its newest machines can perform over 50 different processes without any separate attachments. They can make ice cream, grind grains to make flour, knead dough, make whole food juice—and can even make piping hot soups heated by nothing more than the blades spinning at 240 MPH.
You could “star” in the next Vita-Mix TV production
Beginning this month, ‘Pitch Me!’ participants can showcase their skills with a Vita-Mix blender for a chance to win big bucks, based on their video’s creativity, popularity and overall quality. As the competition progresses, Vita-Mix will air highly-rated submissions on national commercials, to drum up support for the leading videos and further publicize the contest.
‘We have so many loyal fans that are passionate about Vita-Mix products and about healthy living,’ says Dan Kleps, marketing manager at Vita-Mix. ‘We think ‘Pitch Me!’ is the perfect way for us to tap this well of enthusiasm and find creative people to reinterpret the Vita-Mix demonstration in their own way. We can’t wait to see the results.’
Vita-Mix is offering more than $20,000 in total prizes including the Grand Prize of $10,000 cash. The winner, voted on by the public and chosen by Vita-Mix, receives the Ten Grand and may star in upcoming Vita-Mix television commercials and web-based videos. We’re pretty sure there weren’t any web-based videos back in ’49.
For information on how to enter, you may visit the company’s website.
