Dubious Achievements
The “informercial” industry--the people who make those hourlong televised sales pitches that try to pass themselves off as conventional talk shows and documentaries--doesn’t exactly have a rich history to draw upon.
State and federal officials have cracked down on some claims made. Besides, what can you say about an industry whose major accomplishments include reviving actress Ali McGraw’s career, making fire walker Tony Robbins famous and promoting seaweed as a way to get rid of cellulite?
Nonetheless, media executives being surveyed now by Hunter Research in New York have been asked to select the “top three major developments in the informercial industry.” Three of the five choices include:
* The bankruptcy of one marketing firm.
* One company’s indictment by the Texas attorney general’s office.
* A $1.5-million fine levied against an outfit by the Federal Trade Commission.
Crystals in Every Room?
The federal Resolution Trust Corp. is going New Age.
The health spa at Arizona’s Phoenician Resort, a hotel under the control of the thrift mop-up agency, has been renamed “The Center for Well-Being.”
Additions include a dietitian, exercise consultants and counselors for personal problems--steps an official describes as “tying it to the whole mind and body.”
The Phoenician, of course, is the white elephant built for nearly $300 million in suburban Phoenix by Charles H. Keating Jr., former owner of the failed Lincoln Savings & Loan in Irvine.
As for Keating, his well-being could use improvement. He is facing civil proceedings accusing him of looting Lincoln and next month faces criminal securities charges in Los Angeles.
No Answer at Big Blue
IBM’s headquarters in Armonk, N.Y., was closed last week to save money.
But on the off chance that he might be toiling at his desk, we tried the extension of Chief Executive John F. Akers. After all, Akers recently read IBM employees the riot act for being “too damn comfortable at a time when the business is in crisis.”
No such luck. The response on his line: “You have reached Mr. Akers’ office. IBM corporate headquarters is observing an extended holiday week from July 1 through July 5. We will return to the office on Monday, July 8, and you may reach us at that time. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial IBM security.”
A secretary in IBM’s press office, which was open one day last week, said she doubted that anyone there knew what Akers was up to while the offices were closed.
No doubt he had work to do. Last week, IBM wrapped up the details of its landmark technology alliance with longtime rival Apple Computer Inc.
Briefly . . .
Chief White House economist Michael J. Boskin has yet to certify it, but Iceland, like the United States, is emerging from recession . . . The Chicago Bulls expect to sell about $45 million of officially licensed merchandise as a result of beating the Lakers, more than double the previous National Basketball Assn. record . . . So many firms have filed for bankruptcy twice that lawyers have coined a new term: “Chapter 22.”
