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59-404: GGW may refer to: Girls Gone Wild (franchise) , an adult entertainment company Glasgow station (Montana) , a train station Glasgow Airport (Montana) Gogodala language Great Green Wall (Africa) Great Green Wall (China) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

118-765: A call to action , are erroneously called infomercials; when used as an independently produced commercial, they are generally known as DRTV spots or short-form DRTV . Infomercial sponsors often also use shorter spots during regular programming. The products frequently marketed through infomercials at the national level include cleaning products, appliances, food-preparation devices, dietary supplements, alternative health aids, memory improvement courses, books, compilation albums , videos of numerous genres, real estate investment strategies, beauty supplies, baldness remedies, sexual-enhancement supplements, weight-loss programs and products, personal fitness devices, home exercise machines and adult chat lines. Uses for infomercials in

177-472: A no contest plea to criminal charges of child abuse and prostitution . In 2013, GGW Brands LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. An episode of the TNT true crime anthology series Rich & Shameless called Girls Gone Wild Exposed aired on TNT on April 23, 2022, and featured accounts from alleged victims of Joe Francis, as well as a recorded verbal altercation between Francis and his wife, who

236-488: A " name " adds value in making an introduction. Infomercials particularly exploded in the mid-1990s with motivational and personal development products, and " get-rich-quick scheme "s based on the premise that one could quickly become wealthy by either selling anything through classified ads or through flipping . These were hawked by personalities such as Don Lapre and Carleton H. Sheets , among others. When they first appeared, infomercials were most often scheduled in

295-442: A "closing argument" to his campaign. The combination of these networks reportedly drew a peak audience of over 33 million viewers of the half-hour program, making it the single most watched infomercial broadcast in the history of U.S. television. Aside from blocking viewer choice, reception was not all positive: an NBC reviewer referred to Obama as having a "thin resume". Obama opponent John McCain commented that "No one will delay

354-458: A "paid advertisement for [particular product or service], sponsored by [sponsor]" at the beginning ("following program") and end ("preceding program") of the advertisement and before ordering instructions are displayed. Customer protection advocates recommend buyer beware : study the product and the claims before making a purchase. Many stations and networks normally run their own disclaimers before, during and/or after infomercials. Some mention

413-421: A Girls Gone Wild video often consists of a free hat, T-shirt, or money. Occasionally, participants are invited to be filmed on a Girls Gone Wild tour bus. At its inception, Girls Gone Wild marketed its product, namely videos, through direct-distribution channels such as infomercials , pay-per-view , and video on demand . This distribution was followed in 2008 by the launch of a Girls Gone Wild magazine,

472-501: A clothing line, and a compilation record released on Jive Records . In September 2005, Girls Gone Wild announced that it would donate all proceeds of Mardi Gras –themed DVDs and videos to the Red Cross . Proceeds from the video sales, which included a title featuring Snoop Dogg , were intended to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina . In 2004, Girls Gone Wild began soliciting men for participation in their videos. Guys Gone Wild

531-633: A complaint against Girls Gone Wild alleging that the company failed to notify customers when they purchased subscriptions under a continuity program, rather than single DVDs. In 2004, GGW settled for $ 1.1 million and agreed to disclose all terms and get consent for recurring charges. In 2006, Girls Gone Wild marketer MRA Holdings pleaded guilty to charges for failing to record the ages of its subjects 2002 and 2003. The parties agreed to pay $ 2.1 million in restitution and fines. In 2008, Ashley Dupré filed against Joe Francis and other defendants claiming that they filmed her without consent. She later dropped

590-440: A dialup option. During the financial crisis that lasted from 2007 to 2008, many struggling individual television stations began to devote more of their programming schedules to infomercials, thereby reducing syndication contracts for regular programming. Some stations found that the revenue from infomercial-time sales were higher than those possible through traditional television advertising and syndication sales options. However,

649-490: A form of linear datacasting without the need to interfere with a subscriber's internet bandwidth (or lack thereof if they solely used the machine's dialup connection for updating). The program was listed as Teleworld Paid Program , named for TiVo's corporate name at its founding. Teleworld Paid Program was quietly discontinued at the start of the 2016–17 television season as the company's install base had mostly transitioned to broadband and newer TiVo devices no longer included

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708-431: A late-night channel-surfing demographic that Joe Francis had identified in the late 1990s. According to TNS Media Intelligence , Girls Gone Wild spent more than $ 21 million in advertising in 2003, becoming the largest advertiser for programs on the E! channel. In 2008, Francis' net worth was approximately $ 150 million. Instances of Girls Gone Wild in popular culture include the appearance of Eminem and Snoop Dogg in

767-406: A local level. During the early days of television, many television shows were specifically created by sponsors with the main goal of selling their product, the entertainment angle being a hook to hold audience's attention (this is how soap operas got their name; such shows were sponsored by soap manufacturers). A good example of this is the early children's show The Magic Clown on NBC , which

826-449: A town hall-like program. Fellow presidential candidate Barack Obama 's 2008 presidential campaign used infomercials extensively, including running a 24-hour channel on Dish Network. One week before the 2008 general election , Obama purchased a 30-minute slot at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time during primetime on seven major networks ( NBC , CBS , MSNBC , Fox , BET , TV One and Univision (with Spanish subtitles)) to present

885-421: Is a compelling story about the product offered. The term infomercial , by 2007, had come to refer to the format, even when used in a live presentation. Infomercials are designed to solicit quantifiable immediate direct response (a form of direct response marketing , not to be confused with direct marketing ); they generally feature between two and four internal commercials of 30 to 120 seconds which invite

944-468: Is allocated free of charge to political parties according to a formula approved by Parliament, and is available only on broadcast television and radio channels. The Communications Act 2003 prohibits political advertising. Television advertising of pharmacy-only and prescription drugs is also prohibited. Some U.S. televangelists such as Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff buy television time from infomercial brokers representing television stations around

1003-583: Is despite both DirecTV and Dish carrying several infomercial-only and leased access networks which have been criticized by their subscribers. As with other advertising, content is supervised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and regulated by Ofcom . Advertising rules are written and maintained by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), working closely with the ASA and Ofcom. In

1062-657: The Newsweek used the term infomercial to describe a cookbook whose author was described as "hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list". The Los Angeles Times mediated. Other possible putdowns include informercial-like and infomercial type stuff . The infomercial format has been widely parodied: Others have been done too, and these parodies are an ongoing source of amusement and creativity. The Adult Swim late-night block of cable channel Cartoon Network has often broadcast an anthology of comedy shorts in

1121-625: The Better Business Bureau or a state/local customer protection agency. A "paid programming" bug in a corner of the screen during infomercials, particularly for financial products, is to avoid an exploitation of an "as seen on" claim of endorsement. Some, particularly smaller networks, only use a limited number of trusted advertisers. Considerable FTC scrutiny is also given to results claims and testimonials. Rules controlling endorsements are periodically enhanced to increase customer protection and fill loopholes. Industry organizations such as

1180-532: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the amount of advertising that could appear during an hour of television did away with these programs, forcing sponsors into the background; however, a few infomercials, mainly those for greatest hits record sets (which could get around the restrictions by devoting much of the airtime to snippets of the songs on the records, which did not count as advertising) and Shop Smith power tools, did exist during

1239-595: The Girls Gone Wild series, sometimes the young women kiss, while the guys' series does not have that feature. Horn explains: "Let's face it, there's a double standard when it comes to guy-on-guy as opposed to girl-on-girl . It's sexy to see two girls making out . It's not considered sexy to see two guys making out. That's just the reality, and, we were there to capture the reality." The hour-long Guys Gone Wild productions featured women camera operators who encouraged men to get naked and perform strip teases. In 2002,

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1298-541: The 1970s that the hard sell "But wait! There's more!" Ginsu ads were being aired on American late-night TV. The Federal Communications Commission lifted the prohibition on program-length advertisements on radio in 1981. Infomercials proliferated in the United States after 1984 when the Federal Communications Commission eliminated regulations that were established in the 1950s and 1960s to govern

1357-544: The 1989, the Satellite Shop was launched as the first UK shopping channel. Shortly afterwards, infomercials began on satellite television, and they became known as teleshopping . Until 2009, the UK permitted neither paid infomercials nor teleshopping on broadcast television. However, in 2009, Ofcom allowed up to three hours of infomercials per day on any channel. Airtime for political messages, known as party political broadcasts ,

1416-501: The 1990s, federal and state customer protection agencies have criticized several prominent infomercial pitchmen, including Kevin Trudeau , Donald Barrett and, to a lesser extent, Matthew Lesko , and also Don Lapre , a salesman notorious for his get-rich-quick schemes . Some were successfully sued. Programs that collect donations or sell via Premium-rate telephone number (900-number) have additional disclosure requirements. In 1992,

1475-504: The Electronic Retailing Association, which represents infomercial marketers, often try to minimize the impact of these rule changes. FTC enforcement has focused on testimonials for publishing "non-typical" and "completely fabricated" customer testimonials used within infomercials. In 2006, the first third-party testimonial verification company was launched, and it now independently pre-validates many testimonials. Since

1534-414: The U.S., and even some widely distributed cable networks that are not averse to carrying religious programming . A block of such programming appears weekdays on BET under the umbrella title BET Inspiration (which fully replaced the direct-response variety of infomercials on the channel in 1997). The vast majority of religious programming in the United States is distributed through paid infomercial time;

1593-446: The UK, "admags" (advertisement magazines) were originally a feature of the regional commercial ITV stations from launch in 1955. While very popular, admags were banned in 1963. The word "teleshopping" was coined in 1979 by Michael Aldrich , who invented real-time transaction processing from a domestic television and subsequently installed many systems throughout the UK in the 1980s. This would now be referred to as online shopping . In

1652-604: The United States and Canada during late-night/early morning hours. As stations have found value in airing them at other times, a large portion of infomercial spending occurs in the early morning, daytime, early prime and even prime time periods. There are also all-infomercial networks (such as cable channels Corner Store TV, OnTV4U , Access Television Network and GRTV ) that yield revenue for cable and satellite providers who carry them or fill local programming voids. Some cable carriage contracts were adjusted in 2006. CNBC , which airs only two hours of infomercials nightly during

1711-473: The United States, the strategy of buying prime-time programming slots on major networks has been utilized by political candidates for both presidential and state office to present infomercial-like programs to sell a candidate's merits to the public. Fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche regularly bought time on CBS and local stations in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Ross Perot also bought network time in 1992 and 1996 to present his presidential policies to

1770-412: The United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight and early morning (usually 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), outside peak prime time hours for commercial broadcasters . Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of signing off , while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during

1829-552: The block. Some refused Weekend Marketplace outright. In September 2014, Weekend Marketplace was replaced in some markets by the E/I-focused Xploration Station . In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that any infomercial 15 minutes or longer must disclose to viewers that it is a paid advertisement. An infomercial is required to be "clearly and conspicuously" marked as

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1888-505: The business week, sometimes airs nearly 30 hours of infomercials on weekends; from the September–October 2008 financial crisis to early 2017, CNBC had inserted a "paid programming" bug at the top right corner of the screen during all airings of infomercials. In contrast, sister network CNBC World airs international programming rather than any paid programming. When a conventional prime-time two-minute advertising pod has no ads,

1947-550: The commercial content of television. Kevin Harrington , nicknamed the "infomercial godfather", had his first infomercial air in 1985. By 1994, an estimated 91% of all stations had or were airing infomercials. One relatively early question was whether or not infomercials should feature celebrities. Although "how much will it cost" was part of the equation, so was a "highly demonstrable item with obvious features and benefits." Even when experts are used for their endorsement value,

2006-477: The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . In 2014, the company was sold to Bang Bros . The first Girls Gone Wild film was released in 1997. In 2001, the company sold 4.5 million videos and DVDs. By the end of 2002, the company had produced 83 different titles and had begun airing 30-minute infomercials on E! Entertainment Television, Fox Sports Net, BET , Comedy Central , Tech TV , Style , and all other major U.S. networks. The infomercials targeted

2065-437: The company settled with a Florida State University student named Becky Lynn Gritzke. The young woman had flashed her breasts at Mardi Gras the year before and the company used video and an image of her for promotional material. Gritzke argued that her privacy had been violated but the company countered that removing one's clothing in public meant forfeiting one's right to privacy. In 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice filed

2124-588: The company's videos, as well as various references and parodies of the show in popular television series and movies. MGM announced in 2002 that it would release a feature-length film based on the Girls Gone Wild concept. Most Girls Gone Wild videos follow a common formula in which a film crew interacts with a large crowd of people either at a party , club, or other event. Women willingly take off their clothes, engage in sexual activities, or participate in wet T-shirt contests . Compensation for taking part in

2183-415: The daytime hours, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the U.S. occurred outside of the traditional overnight hours. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. The infomercial industry is worth over $ 200 billion. Washington, D.C. –based National Infomercial Marketing Association

2242-441: The early 1990s included offering free trials of personal care products such as enhanced plaque removers; an 800-number was used to collect basic marketing information. Major brands (such as Apple , Microsoft and Thermos-Grill2Go ) have used infomercials for their ability to communicate more complicated and in-depth product stories. This practice started in the early 1990s and has increased since. Such advertisers generally eschew

2301-609: The early-morning hours, concealed in program schedules under the title " Infomercials " to provide a false impression that legitimate paid programming had been scheduled in that time slot. Some of these shorts have parodied the cliches of real infomercials, such as Paid Programming (a parody infomercial which begins as one for the fictitious supplement Icelandic UltraBlue, but seamlessly segues into segments promoting other loosely related products and businesses), For-Profit Online University , and Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick (which parodies self-help programs). In

2360-468: The fees that televangelists pay for coverage on most religious stations are a major revenue stream for those stations, in addition to programming the networks produce themselves. TiVo formerly used paid programming time weekly on the Discovery Channel on early Thursday mornings and Ion Television on early Wednesday mornings to record interactive and video content to be presented to subscribers in

2419-565: The judge upheld the verdict. In March 2008, four women claimed that they suffered emotional distress by being shown in Girls Gone Wild film. In April 2011, an all-female jury declined to award damages to the plaintiffs. However, in January 2015, Francis agreed to settle a separate 2003 lawsuit which involved allegations of him taping the exposed breasts of underage girls as part of Girls Gone Wild content. The 2015 civil settlement also involved Francis agreeing to serve 336 days in jail after accepting

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2478-413: The less reputable trappings of the traditional infomercial business in order to create communication they believe creates a better image of their products, brands and customers. Apple's use of the infomercial medium was immediately discontinued with Steve Jobs ' 1997 return to the helm of the company. Automobile dealerships, attorneys and jewelers are among the types of businesses that air infomercials on

2537-441: The more common hours infomercials are broadcast (such as the overnight hours). Infomercials were previously a near-permanent staple of Ion Television 's daytime and overnight schedules, but the channel now only carries infomercials in the traditional 3:00-8:00 a.m. ET/PT timeslot emulated by most cable networks. Multichannel providers such as DirecTV had objected to carrying Ion feeds consisting largely of paid programming. This

2596-484: The networks will run a two-minute mini-infomercial at a much lower rate, charging "as little as 5 percent of what a general advertiser would" pay. The New York Times suggested that "the commercial became the show as infomercials ruled the night." A comparison of television listings from 2007 with 1987 verifies that many North American broadcasters began to air infomercials in lieu of syndicated television series reruns and movies, which were formerly staples during

2655-432: The party making the communication or political speech is exaggerating truths or hiding important facts. The New York Times cited a professional in the field as saying that "infomercial companies tend to do well during recessions." The word "infomercial" is a portmanteau of the words " information " and " commercial ". As in any other form of advertisement , the content is a commercial message designed to represent

2714-547: The period when commercial time was restricted. During the 1970s, XETV-TDT  – a Mexican TV station based in Tijuana but serving the San Diego market – ran a one-hour English-language program on Sundays showcasing San Diego-area homes for sale. As a non-USA station, the FCC's maximum number of commercial minutes per hour did not apply to XETV. It was also during

2773-581: The public. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has aired programs via paid programming time to present their views on issues such as gun control and other issues while appealing to the public to join their organization. Hillary Clinton bought an hour of primetime programming on the Hallmark Channel in 2008 before the Super Tuesday primary elections, and on Texas -based regional sports network FSN Southwest before that state's primary to present

2832-444: The reduced ratings from airing infomercials can have a chain reaction and harm ratings for other programming on the station. A feature-length documentary that chronicles the history of the infomercial is Pitch People . In 2008, Tribune Content Agency and Gemstar-TV Guide / Rovi began to relax the guidelines for listing infomercials within their electronic program guide listings. Previously all infomercials were listed under

2891-399: The suit, commenting through her attorney that she wanted to focus on positive opportunities in her life. In 2008, a Missouri woman claimed that she was filmed without consent when a Girls Gone Wild contractor removed her halter top at a St. Louis bar. A jury found that she consented. On re-trial, a judge awarded the woman $ 5.77 million after the defense failed to show at court. On appeal,

2950-504: The title Weekend Marketplace . Some local stations utilize Saturday morning slots to air local paid programming that typically sells used cars or real estate, and in other ways rejected infomercials, which were disdained by viewers and Fox affiliates alike: revenue was not shared with affiliates, and no local time for commercials between programs was offered. Some stations used Saturday morning for Educational/Informational (E/I) programming, with infomercials relegated to before or after

3009-468: The title GGW . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GGW&oldid=1150678548 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Girls Gone Wild (franchise) Girls Gone Wild

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3068-593: The title "Paid Programming" (except for exceptions listed below), but now infomercial producers are allowed to submit a title and limited descriptive synopsis (though phone numbers or website addresses remain disallowed) to the listings providers. In January 2009, Fox became the first major broadcast network to carry a regularly scheduled block of paid programming when it discontinued its Saturday morning children's programming after disputes with provider 4Kids Entertainment . Fox gave back three early hours to its affiliates, while retaining two hours for infomercials under

3127-490: The viewer to call or take other direct action. Many viewers respond with a delayed response, by purchases made at retail outlets. These retail purchases are often the largest response. Using "not sold in stores" is a choice by advertisers who dislike sharing profit with retailers, or who lack the immense resources needed to get into retail channels. In the latter case, direct sales enables later retail distribution. Standalone shorter commercials, 30 to 120 seconds in length with

3186-424: The viewpoints and to serve the interest of the sponsor . Infomercials are often made to closely resemble standard television programs . Some imitate talk shows and try to downplay the fact that the program is a commercial message. A few are developed around storylines and have been called "storymercials". However, most do not have specific TV formats but craft different elements to tell what their creators hope

3245-484: Was a video series and male analogue of Girls Gone Wild targeted at young women. These video tapes and DVDs featured much the same content as the Girls equivalent, only instead showing young men performing for the camera—e.g., in the shower, playing football naked, etc. In an article, Bill Horn, spokesman for Mantra Entertainment which produced the videos, notes a gender -related double standard in these videos. In

3304-435: Was created essentially as an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy . The first infomercials for a commercial product (a Vitamix blender) were filmed by Cinécraft Productions , a Cleveland , Ohio–based motion picture studio in 1949. The filmed infomercials began appearing on television in 1950. The Hagley Museum and Library has posted online a number of the early Vitamix infomercials. Eventually, limits imposed by

3363-444: Was formed in late 1990; by 1993 "it had more than 200" members committed to standards "with teeth". While the term "infomercial" was originally applied only to television advertising, it is now sometimes used to refer to any presentation (often on video) which presents a significant amount of information in an actual, or perceived, attempt to promote a point of view. When used this way, the term may be meant to carry an implication that

3422-461: Was known for its early use of direct-response marketing techniques, including its late-night infomercials that began airing in 1997. The videos typically involve camera crews at party locations engaging young college-aged women who expose their bodies or act " wild ", especially during Spring break . Since 2008, the Girls Gone Wild products have been sold primarily through their website as streaming videos, downloads, and DVDs. In February 2013,

3481-644: Was revealed to now be estranged from him. Infomercials An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often program-length commercials (long-form infomercials), and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length. Infomercials are also known as paid programming (or teleshopping in Europe). This phenomenon started in

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