Say No to the ShamWow
-Say No To the Shamwow-
This post is dedicated to Billy Mays. If you've ever been an insomniac or had trouble sleeping, found yourself in front of the television, flipping through the channels, chances are you've come across the enthusiastic face and voice of Billy Mays as he promoted one product or another. Now, when I have cable once again, I'll flip through various "as soon on tv" commercials and there will no doubt be a void left in the commercial advertising industry, if not my heart. It's a sad day. Billy Mays - 1958 to 2009 - you will not be forgotten.
Now that Billy Mays is gone, who will the commercial advertising industry look to as they've lost one of their proudest and most vocal pitchmen? Certainly not Vince Offer, better known as the "Shamwow Guy." I'm sure by now most people have heard of the "Shamwow", a cleaning product which bills itself as a towel, chamois and sponge all-in-one. As a product I've heard, they work very well and in fact, the company that produces them has a 10 year gurantee on them. You can find them in most stores, but right now, that should not be the case. Not when the man promoting their product is somebody who is a violent deviant.
You may look at this picture and you may see what I do. Vince Offer is a little smug and a little calculating - like a shark. Now, what would it eally mean to be a smug, psychotic Shamwow salesman? It could mean a lot of things, but surely it doesn't mean that he would violently beat up a prostitute?
Wrong.
Now, I'll admit this story is an old one, but it's not my fault I haven't heard about it until recently. It's one that was virtually ignored in the media, reduced to being reported on a few websites and lampooned on "Jimmy Kimmel Live". Certainly not the media coverage it deserved. Now, granted, there are certainly far more important issues that should be covered in the news (the Iraq War, the cap-and-trade bill being voted on in the Senate, the state of the American economy, preventive detention, the elections in Iran), but all I'm saying is that I wish I'd heard about this earlier. Perhaps it actually did get all the media coverage it deserved, which is virtually none, but I would've liked to be in the loop on this one.
On February 27, 2009, Vince Offer was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida under his real name, Vince Schlomi. The charge was felony battery, after an altercation with a prostitute. According to the police report and several websites, Vince paid $1000 for the services of a "lady of the evening" - for the evening. Sometime during the festivities of the evening, the two of them kissed and the 26-year old woman bit his tongue. Not only did she bite, but she refused to let go. In a moment of no doubt pure pain, panic and rage, he punched the prostitute repeatedly. I would advise you not to go look at the pictures of the incident. They are pretty brutal. I can understand his reaction to having his tongue bitten, which I can only imagine is a very painful thing to endure. However, I can't condone his actions. Neither should you.
That is why I would advice you not to purchase a Shamwow. If you haven't yet, don't. Every time you purchase a Shamwow, it's like you're implicitly endorsing abuse. Now, somebody (without any heart) may say that it's just a prostitute, but a person's a person, no matter their profession. In fact, in the defense of these women, prostitution is the oldest profession in the world. Now what that says about the world and the human condition, I don't care to speculate right now or go into, but it does say something. What I want to say though is that beating up on a woman is not something to be approved of, no matter who they are, what they do and what they've done. Nor can one approve using the proceeds from your advertising to purchase the services of a prostitute. Personally, I can't even understand it, as you would think the allure of having sex with strangers of a hotel would wear off pretty quickly. But, it's stood the test of time unfortunately.
Now, the ShamWow website sells you eight ShamWows (4 large and four mini) for the price of just $19.95, plus 7.95 S & H. At these prices, for $1000 (one thousand) dollars, that is approximately 288 ShamWows. (Yeah. I did the math.) With the purchase of those Shamwows, Vince is not only purchasing the services of 'hookers', but physically beating and abusing them as well. How can one even stand to look at the ShamWow now, much less purchase one? No amount of Shamwows can clean up all that shame....
(As is usual with my blogs, I usually release an accompanying video and here is one that I discovered posted on YouTube that is a Tribute To Billy Mays. Truly, heaven may have just received one of its best promoters ever. God bless Billy Mays.)
Now that Billy Mays is gone, who will the commercial advertising industry look to as they've lost one of their proudest and most vocal pitchmen? Certainly not Vince Offer, better known as the "Shamwow Guy." I'm sure by now most people have heard of the "Shamwow", a cleaning product which bills itself as a towel, chamois and sponge all-in-one. As a product I've heard, they work very well and in fact, the company that produces them has a 10 year gurantee on them. You can find them in most stores, but right now, that should not be the case. Not when the man promoting their product is somebody who is a violent deviant.
You may look at this picture and you may see what I do. Vince Offer is a little smug and a little calculating - like a shark. Now, what would it eally mean to be a smug, psychotic Shamwow salesman? It could mean a lot of things, but surely it doesn't mean that he would violently beat up a prostitute? Wrong.
Now, I'll admit this story is an old one, but it's not my fault I haven't heard about it until recently. It's one that was virtually ignored in the media, reduced to being reported on a few websites and lampooned on "Jimmy Kimmel Live". Certainly not the media coverage it deserved. Now, granted, there are certainly far more important issues that should be covered in the news (the Iraq War, the cap-and-trade bill being voted on in the Senate, the state of the American economy, preventive detention, the elections in Iran), but all I'm saying is that I wish I'd heard about this earlier. Perhaps it actually did get all the media coverage it deserved, which is virtually none, but I would've liked to be in the loop on this one.
On February 27, 2009, Vince Offer was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida under his real name, Vince Schlomi. The charge was felony battery, after an altercation with a prostitute. According to the police report and several websites, Vince paid $1000 for the services of a "lady of the evening" - for the evening. Sometime during the festivities of the evening, the two of them kissed and the 26-year old woman bit his tongue. Not only did she bite, but she refused to let go. In a moment of no doubt pure pain, panic and rage, he punched the prostitute repeatedly. I would advise you not to go look at the pictures of the incident. They are pretty brutal. I can understand his reaction to having his tongue bitten, which I can only imagine is a very painful thing to endure. However, I can't condone his actions. Neither should you.
That is why I would advice you not to purchase a Shamwow. If you haven't yet, don't. Every time you purchase a Shamwow, it's like you're implicitly endorsing abuse. Now, somebody (without any heart) may say that it's just a prostitute, but a person's a person, no matter their profession. In fact, in the defense of these women, prostitution is the oldest profession in the world. Now what that says about the world and the human condition, I don't care to speculate right now or go into, but it does say something. What I want to say though is that beating up on a woman is not something to be approved of, no matter who they are, what they do and what they've done. Nor can one approve using the proceeds from your advertising to purchase the services of a prostitute. Personally, I can't even understand it, as you would think the allure of having sex with strangers of a hotel would wear off pretty quickly. But, it's stood the test of time unfortunately.
Now, the ShamWow website sells you eight ShamWows (4 large and four mini) for the price of just $19.95, plus 7.95 S & H. At these prices, for $1000 (one thousand) dollars, that is approximately 288 ShamWows. (Yeah. I did the math.) With the purchase of those Shamwows, Vince is not only purchasing the services of 'hookers', but physically beating and abusing them as well. How can one even stand to look at the ShamWow now, much less purchase one? No amount of Shamwows can clean up all that shame....
(As is usual with my blogs, I usually release an accompanying video and here is one that I discovered posted on YouTube that is a Tribute To Billy Mays. Truly, heaven may have just received one of its best promoters ever. God bless Billy Mays.)
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