In our focus on New Orleans and other Gulf Cities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we have missed some other interesting news. As it is still early, and the rest of the family is still asleep, I thought I would share some with you:
- From the It Slices, It Dices, Only $49.95 Department: Ron Popeil, who made his first television commercial in the mid-1950s to sell a garden hose-powered spray gun, has sold the Ronco that made him a multimillionaire to a holding company, Fi-Tek VII Inc., for $55 million. The payment plan is unknown, but Ron says ” It’s $40 million now and $15 million later.” The new Los Angeles-based company will retain the Ronco name and has the right of first refusal over any products Popeil invents. Popeil also will continue to promote his inventions on television. Ronco is best known for the products hawked in TV commericals and informercials, such as the Pocket Fisherman, the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, the Food Dehydrator, the Dial-O-Matic Food Slicer, and many many more. Next on Ron Popeil’s list: A home turkey fryer. According to Popeil, “It can fry a 20-pound turkey in 1 hour and 10 minutes, a 14-pound turkey in 45 minutes”.
Now, I grew up watching Ron pitch his stuff on TV. I remember the Chop-O-Matic, the Veg-O-Matic, and Mr. Microphone. I remember the information with the exchangable perky cute sidekick, and how operators will be standing by. He is part of TV history, just like Cal Worthington and Mad Man Muntz.
Full details are in the Los Angeles Business Journal. Operators are standing by.
- From the Everything Old is New Again department: SBC (which itself was the merger of two former AT&T units: Pacific Bell (nee Pacific Telephone, later Pacific Telesis) and Southwestern Bell) is changing its name… to AT&T. You see, SBC recently purchased AT&T (or what was left of it), and has now decided that the brand is everything, and AT&T is still among the most recognizable corporate monikers in the world.
I think this continues the trend of demonstrating that breaking up monopolies doesn’t work. We break up AT&T, only to have it die and restart as the merger of two of its parts. We break up Standard Oil, only to see its corporate children merging back together: ExxonMobil, which is the marriage of Exxon (nee ESSO, nee Standard Oil (“S O”) of New Jersey), and Mobil (nee SOCONY Mobil, nee Standard Oil of New York), or BP, which is the marriage of Amoco (nee Standard Oil of Indiana) and Sohio (nee Standard Oil of Ohio) and ARCO (nee Atlantic Refining and Richfield).
For more information, see Business Week. Dial “O” for Operator.