Ron Popeil is an American inventor and marketing genius who is known best for his company Ronco-a direct response marketing company.
Ron began to sell his father’s gadgets made for the kitchen at the largest flea market in Chicago in the mid 1950s at the young age of 13. In his late teens he sold the kitchen gadgets by working the state and county fairs and he was very successful in his endeavors due to his alluring marketing techniques. He knew how to grab the attention of the passerbys and how to keep their interest. Popeil enjoyed his success and he wore a Rolex watch and was able to afford to rent expensive hotel suites. Later he opened an office on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and was called the Paul Newman of the Playboy Building. He was mesmerizing and handsome. Secretaries working nearby would take their lunch breaks at the Woolworth’s store so they could watch him sell the Chop-O-Matic at the store.
Ron Popeil founded Ronco in 1964 and their commercials quickly became memorable and very persuasive. The Veg-O-Matic had just been introduced prior to the founding of Ronco and Mel Korey assisted Ron in shooting a commercial for five hundred dollars. They convinced department stores to carry the Veg-O-Matic with the terms that if they stores could not sell the units-they could be returned. They cleverly purchased TV commercial air time cheaply and their gamble paid off as they sold 2,500 of the units in five weeks. It made the phrases “it slices, it dices” famous.
Ron’s pitch was amazing. There was something about the way that he did it that made the products irresistible to potential customers. He would explain the product to customers three or four times, using a different twist each time.
Today Ron Popeil is semi-retired and Ronco is now based in Chatsworth, California.
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