But Wait…There’s More: The Ginsu Knife Story

R.I.P. Arthur Schiff, TV-Advertising Pitchman (1940-2006)

Arthur Schiff's sales-pitch formula was as old as a patent medicine salesman's: Get people's attention, hold it, then sell them something. And Mr. Schiff sold everything from singing bird clocks to antisnore spray to pocket-sized sewing machines in more than 1,800 low-budget, late-night television commercials that pioneered the direct-response form of advertising urging viewers to "buy now" by calling a toll-free 800 phone number.

"There are examples of his products in almost every household," George W. Smith, senior vice president of West Corp., a supplier of 800-number services, said of Mr. Schiff, who died Aug. 24 at age 66.

Mr. Schiff was largely unknown outside his advertising niche even though many of his pitches became ingrained in popular culture. One of his most successful ideas, which he said came to him during a bout of insomnia, was finding a way to sell a knife with the uninspiring Quikut brand name. Mr. Schiff dreamed up a new name -- Ginsu -- that evoked a Japanese heritage, adding a memorable tagline: "In Japan, the hand can be used like a knife. But this method doesn't work with a tomato." A hand was shown squashing a tomato before the commercial cut to a Ginsu -- starting at $9.95 for a set of 10 knives -- handling the job with less mess. "Of course, I neglected to mention the knives were manufactured in Fremont, Ohio," Mr. Schiff wrote later.

The commercial was parodied by a generation of comedians -- memorably by John Belushi with his samurai sword antics on "Saturday Night Live" -- but made the knife a sensation.

In 1976, as a 36-year-old advertising executive with experience writing for television, Mr. Schiff joined Dial Media Inc., the Warwick, R.I., direct marketing firm that marketed the Ginsu knife. His assignment: provide "grease copy" so it "would slide people right into the ad," recalls Dial Media co-founder Ed Valenti.

Only one in 15 direct-response ads recoups its costs, says Rob Woodrooffe, president of Interwood Direct, a Canadian pioneer of the technique. While Mr. Schiff had his share of flops, many of his ideas -- the wackier the better, it seemed -- were hits with viewers, says Barbara Zucker, Mr. Schiff's widow and business partner, who declined to discuss any of the flops.

Between 1978 and 1984, the Ginsu racked up sales of more than $50 million, according to Mr. Valenti. The knife manufacturer -- now known as Douglas Quikut, owned by a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. -- continues to sell the Ginsu.

In other promotions, to show the toughness of the Armourcote frying pan -- with a voiceover saying "the diamond is the world's hardest substance, but you can't cook on it" -- Mr. Schiff's ad showed an egg being dropped on a diamond ring. Calls swamped the Manhattan phone system, Mr. Schiff said in a 1982 interview. An ad for Claudette Louberge Pantyhose used nail files and steel wool to demonstrate the product's resistance to runs. It was so popular viewers reported spotting Ms. Louberge even though she was fictional, according to Ms. Zucker.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115776073299858307.html?mod=mm_hs_advertising