Word: pitchman
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...dream of the television pitchman is wondrously simple: to get painlessly but surely inside the viewer's head. To make the dream come true, two young companies are peddling "subliminal perception," the psychological phenomenon whereby a sight too fleeting to register consciously takes root subtly in the viewer's subconscious mind. This technique could flash phantom plugs on the television screen at speeds too fast (around one three-thousandth of a second) for the viewer to realize that a Madison Avenue Rasputin was selling him beer not only between the rounds of a prizefight but between the very...
...Oscar-smothered epic movie Around the World in 80 Days, Showman Mike Todd held "a little private party" in Manhattan's ballooned and festooned Madison Square Garden. On the promise of a mighty spectacle plus food, champagne and free gifts (from Japanese dolls to a Cessna airplane), Pitchman Todd conned 18,000 suckers in evening wear into the Garden, conned CBS-TV into paying some $300,000 to carry the shambles to the nation, conned most of the gifts and goodies without cost from publicity-seeking businessmen. When the colossal display of vulgarity and effrontery flamed out long after...
Long before Pete finished counting his bruises, Deacon Jack Hurley, the irascible Seattle promoter who perpetrated the farce, sorrowfully counted the house. He had hoped for a $400,000 gate; there was only $243,000 in the till. With the skill of a veteran pitchman preparing to milk the marks once more, Hurley started the spiel for a new fight. "This guy may not have the staying power of a pro yet. But he's as confident as Einstein doing long division. He can draw a crowd better than anybody but the champion...
...Patterson-Hurricane Jackson fight (see SPORT) into focus for America's armchair fans last week over NBC, the Buick Motor Division of General Motors forked out about $250,000. What it got for its money was as distasteful as the fight itself. Between rounds, a glassy-eyed young pitchman trundled before the viewing public one dull, lumpy Buick "salesman" after another. Wearing Panama hats, they muttered mostly about this being a dandy time to get a good deal on a Buick. The clincher came at the fight's crucial moment. As Referee Ruby Goldstein snaffled the bludgeoned Jackson...
...crushed top hat, an outsized bow tie and a bulky black sweater, who moves with rubbery ease from classic grin to classic frown. "I act like a king-size kid myself," says Soupy, "and talk right to them just like I would a bank president." As pitchman he is less happy. Too often he is called upon to spray himself with Bactine disinfectant and sing "Down go the mean old germs," take great chunks of Silver Cup Bread (backed by offbeat sound effects) and shriek "The Best Bread in Deeee-troit." When he downs his Vite-A-Minnies, children...