Sophisticated advertising was great when the market was doing well, but when consumers have a small budget, it may actually boil down to who can shout the loudest – and the most persuasively. Enter the TV pitchman. Pitchmen are the reasons infomercials succeed, the ones who are able to hawk their products with such enthusiasm [...]

In January 2009 CBS viewers noticed something new. Two minute infomercials for a DVD set, “The World at War” by Time Life began regularly showing up on the prime time Saturday line up. This is a clear indication of just how troubled the broadcast advertising market really is. “The economy is the number one focus [...]