December 1997
Infomercials are the bane of modern TV. I’ve been asked to do a million of them; everything from feminine hygiene to diet drinks. I generally decline. There’s always somebody who wants you to endorse a product you’ve never even heard of before. Sure they pay big money, but what about integrity?
I made a rule some time ago that I’d only endorse products I truly believe in. But what do you say when it’s your own brother or sister doing the asking?
First, my brother wanted help on an infomercial: he has a car dealership in Southern California and a virtual safari shop in his showroom! The car business is very competitive, cut-throat even. We’ve all seen those embarrassing car commercials.
Fortunately, for a car man, my brother has class. I knew he wouldn’t ask me to pose with animals or wear funny clothes. And I was secretly hoping he’d ask me to do some off-road daredevil stunts in a convertible! He didn’t send me a script, just the very cryptic direction to: “Be there.”
When I arrived, it was wild! The shoot was completely impromptu. A lot of fun, but a little scary for someone whose every line is scripted! He cast me as “a shopper.” We just let the camera roll as I shopped for pith helmets, waterproof clothes and rugged jeeps.
My sister, on the other hand, scripted her promotional video down to the crossed T’s dotted i’s. The half hour infomercial is for the school for the deaf and hard of hearing children we’ve founded, so there’s lots of shots of the kids playing together and using sign language to communicate. It’s true what they say about kids picking up languages more easily at a young age.
Unfortunately, my sister Debbie gave me lots of dialogue about brain development- interesting stuff, but I had to discuss neural pathways, dendrites, and myelination! Then I talked about pediatric audiology, speech language pathology, and the importance of early language acquisition. Yikes!
Then I rounded it out with some history on Montessori (Maria and her method), and new research on developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education (they no longer “See Dick Run”).
Both infomercials are professional, well done, and work of which I’m proud. It’s interesting though, to see how your siblings size you up. Debbie gave me technology and research and my brother made me shop! I was able to do my brother’s in one take!
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