morningstar
Cathlete
Beavs, I hope this doesn't break your heart! This guy leads a very interesting life, that's for sure!
ShamWow Guy arrested after hotel fight with woman:
Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — Television pitchman Vince Shlomi, better known as the ShamWow Guy who has been phenomenally successful peddling absorbent towels and food choppers, was arrested at a swank Miami hotel last month after a violent confrontation with a prostitute, according to a post Friday on the website The Smoking Gun.
Shlomi, 44, and Sasha Harris, 26, were both arrested, according to police reports.
According to an arrest affidavit, Shlomi told police he met Harris at a Miami Beach nightclub on Feb. 7 and took her to his $750-a-night room Shlomi told police he paid Harris about $1,000 and that that when he kissed her, she "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched her several times until she released his tongue.
The affidavit says a bleeding Shlomi ran to the hotel lobby, where security summoned police.
Both arrested for felony aggravated battery, but The Smoking Gun says prosecutors this month declined to file formal charges against the combatants.
Photos on the website show a battered Schlomi and copies of the handwritten police report.
From Wikipedia:
Vince Shlomi (born April 25, 1964 in Israel[1]), better known as Vince Offer, is a writer, director, and comedian best known as the owner and pitchman of two sold-on-TV products: ShamWow! absorbent towels and the Slap Chop food chopper.[2]
Underground Comedy Movie
Main article: Underground Comedy Movie
In 1999, Offer released the The Underground Comedy Movie to scathing reviews. The New York Post said it "may be the least amusing comedy ever made," and Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times described the movie as "a series of sketches built around subjects like masturbation, defecation, alienation, urination, necrophilia, voyeurism, casual brutality, and mockery of the unfortunate". He added that Offer "makes the common mistake of equating the recognition of comic potential for comedy itself. For the successful, talent bridges the gap, but, here, it is absent."[3] DVDs of the film were marketed via television infomercial.
The film also led to several lawsuits. Offer filed a copyright-infringement suit against Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Twentieth Century Fox, claiming that 14 scenes in There's Something About Mary were taken from his own film. The Farrelly brothers responded, "We've never heard of him, we've never heard of his movie, and it's all a bunch of baloney."[4] The case was dismissed with prejudice on a motion for summary judgment by order of the court in 2000, and Twentieth Century Fox was awarded $66,336.92 in attorneys' fees.[5] In addition, Offer sued Anna Nicole Smith for breach of contract, alleging that Smith had agreed to appear in Underground Comedy Movie but backed out, claiming it would hurt her career.[6]
In 2004, Offer, an ex-Scientologist, sued the Church of Scientology with the help of attorney Ford Greene. He alleged that the church had declared him a criminal and had urged its members to commit libel against him. Offer claimed that the church's actions caused him to lose a successful business, as many of his employees were Scientologists who quit upon learning of what the church did.[7]
Infomercial marketing
Offer, who funded Underground Comedy Movie with his own money, had trouble selling it. Inspired by the success of Girls Gone Wild marketing, he decided to put the trailer on an infomercial, and sold 50,000 copies direct order.[2]
ShamWow!
The success of the Underground Comedy Movie infomercial suggested to Offer that he should sell something more mainstream. Drawing upon his experience working in flea markets, he decided in 2006 to market a cleaning product that he saw there, an absorbent towel that he called the ShamWow![2] [8]
The advertisement, filmed in the summer in 2007 with a budget of $20,000, became a popular hit.[2] Slate.com's Seth Stevenson praised Offer for his "impressive and subtle mastery of the pitchman's art" (with lines such as "you know the Germans always make good stuff"), and wondered if Offer's "abrasive manner might also mark a unique, new strategy in the annals of pitchdom". Stevenson compared Offer to earlier, "more upbeat" television pitchmen like Billy Mays and the Home Shopping Network hosts and concluded that Offer's "smooth-talking condescension" was more suited to the present zeitgeist than the "earnest fervor" of spokesmen like Mays and Ron Popeil.[8]
Offer says that he's sold "millions" of the towels.[2] Notwithstanding his infomercial success, Offer says that "this is not my career" and that he considers himself in the film business.[2]
Slap Chop commercial
In December 2008, Offer, who had previously sold kitchen utensils at swap meets,[8] appeared in another infomercial for the kitchen utensil Slap Chop.[9] Offer's aggressiveness and use of double entendres like "you're gonna love my nuts" have earned him notoriety,[10] and, according to an AdWeek blog, helped make Offer "the man who could beat Billy Mays at his own game."
Arrest
On February 7, 2009, Shlomi was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida on a charge of felony battery after an altercation with a 26-year-old prostitute.[11][1][12]
ShamWow Guy arrested after hotel fight with woman:
Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — Television pitchman Vince Shlomi, better known as the ShamWow Guy who has been phenomenally successful peddling absorbent towels and food choppers, was arrested at a swank Miami hotel last month after a violent confrontation with a prostitute, according to a post Friday on the website The Smoking Gun.
Shlomi, 44, and Sasha Harris, 26, were both arrested, according to police reports.
According to an arrest affidavit, Shlomi told police he met Harris at a Miami Beach nightclub on Feb. 7 and took her to his $750-a-night room Shlomi told police he paid Harris about $1,000 and that that when he kissed her, she "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched her several times until she released his tongue.
The affidavit says a bleeding Shlomi ran to the hotel lobby, where security summoned police.
Both arrested for felony aggravated battery, but The Smoking Gun says prosecutors this month declined to file formal charges against the combatants.
Photos on the website show a battered Schlomi and copies of the handwritten police report.
From Wikipedia:
Vince Shlomi (born April 25, 1964 in Israel[1]), better known as Vince Offer, is a writer, director, and comedian best known as the owner and pitchman of two sold-on-TV products: ShamWow! absorbent towels and the Slap Chop food chopper.[2]
Underground Comedy Movie
Main article: Underground Comedy Movie
In 1999, Offer released the The Underground Comedy Movie to scathing reviews. The New York Post said it "may be the least amusing comedy ever made," and Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times described the movie as "a series of sketches built around subjects like masturbation, defecation, alienation, urination, necrophilia, voyeurism, casual brutality, and mockery of the unfortunate". He added that Offer "makes the common mistake of equating the recognition of comic potential for comedy itself. For the successful, talent bridges the gap, but, here, it is absent."[3] DVDs of the film were marketed via television infomercial.
The film also led to several lawsuits. Offer filed a copyright-infringement suit against Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Twentieth Century Fox, claiming that 14 scenes in There's Something About Mary were taken from his own film. The Farrelly brothers responded, "We've never heard of him, we've never heard of his movie, and it's all a bunch of baloney."[4] The case was dismissed with prejudice on a motion for summary judgment by order of the court in 2000, and Twentieth Century Fox was awarded $66,336.92 in attorneys' fees.[5] In addition, Offer sued Anna Nicole Smith for breach of contract, alleging that Smith had agreed to appear in Underground Comedy Movie but backed out, claiming it would hurt her career.[6]
In 2004, Offer, an ex-Scientologist, sued the Church of Scientology with the help of attorney Ford Greene. He alleged that the church had declared him a criminal and had urged its members to commit libel against him. Offer claimed that the church's actions caused him to lose a successful business, as many of his employees were Scientologists who quit upon learning of what the church did.[7]
Infomercial marketing
Offer, who funded Underground Comedy Movie with his own money, had trouble selling it. Inspired by the success of Girls Gone Wild marketing, he decided to put the trailer on an infomercial, and sold 50,000 copies direct order.[2]
ShamWow!
The success of the Underground Comedy Movie infomercial suggested to Offer that he should sell something more mainstream. Drawing upon his experience working in flea markets, he decided in 2006 to market a cleaning product that he saw there, an absorbent towel that he called the ShamWow![2] [8]
The advertisement, filmed in the summer in 2007 with a budget of $20,000, became a popular hit.[2] Slate.com's Seth Stevenson praised Offer for his "impressive and subtle mastery of the pitchman's art" (with lines such as "you know the Germans always make good stuff"), and wondered if Offer's "abrasive manner might also mark a unique, new strategy in the annals of pitchdom". Stevenson compared Offer to earlier, "more upbeat" television pitchmen like Billy Mays and the Home Shopping Network hosts and concluded that Offer's "smooth-talking condescension" was more suited to the present zeitgeist than the "earnest fervor" of spokesmen like Mays and Ron Popeil.[8]
Offer says that he's sold "millions" of the towels.[2] Notwithstanding his infomercial success, Offer says that "this is not my career" and that he considers himself in the film business.[2]
Slap Chop commercial
In December 2008, Offer, who had previously sold kitchen utensils at swap meets,[8] appeared in another infomercial for the kitchen utensil Slap Chop.[9] Offer's aggressiveness and use of double entendres like "you're gonna love my nuts" have earned him notoriety,[10] and, according to an AdWeek blog, helped make Offer "the man who could beat Billy Mays at his own game."
Arrest
On February 7, 2009, Shlomi was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida on a charge of felony battery after an altercation with a 26-year-old prostitute.[11][1][12]
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This makes me wonder what cool gadget he'll be hawking next.
