Ginsu

The Wisdom of Ginsu, a book co-authored by Ed Valenti.

Ginsu (/ˈɡɪnsuː/) is a brand of direct marketed knives, owned by Scott Fetzer Company, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, that was made popular in the United States by being sold on television using infomercials characterized by hawker and hard sell pitch techniques. The ads fueled sales of between two and three million Ginsu sets between 1978 and 1984.^{[citation needed]}

History[]

Ginsu knives were originally called Quikut, made by the Quikut division of Scott Fetzer Company and was located in Fremont, Ohio. Since "Quikut" lacked panache, Ed Valenti, Barry Becher, and copywriter Arthur Schiff created a name that alluded to the exceptional sharpness and durability of Japanese samurai swords. As Valenti told the Palm Beach Post in 2011, "The challenge was to position the product so that it made every other knife you owned obsolete."^[1]

The resulting Ginsu ads copied the hard sell direct marketing techniques of carnival hawkers pioneering TV pitchman Ron Popeil had adapted to the medium in the 1960s. In the process, they helped solidify the formula for the modern infomercial. The ads were ubiquitous in the late 1970s on U.S. television. Advertisements for the "amazing" Ginsu knife asked, "Now how much would you pay? Don't answer!" urged viewers to "Call now! Operators are standing by!", and included the signature "But wait! There's more!", which became a popular infomercial catch phrase, and has been used ever since.^[1]

Media scholar Robert Thompson, of Syracuse University, called the Ginsu advertising campaign "the pitch of all pitches."^[1] "Ginsu has everything a great direct-response commercial could have," said John Witek, a marketing consultant and author of Response Television: Combat Advertising of the 1980s. "Ginsu had humor, demonstration, and a precisely structured series of premium offers I call 'the lots-for-a-little approach'."^[2]^[3]

Valenti and Becher later repeated the advertising formula with other products such as the Miracle Slicer, Royal Durasteel mixing bowls, Vacufresh storage containers, the Chainge Adjustable Necklace, and Armourcote Cookware.^[1] TV pitchmen Billy Mays and Vince Offer employed the hard-sell informercial to great success in more contemporary times.

While the name Ginsu was invented by Becher, Becher later (satirically) told an interviewer the word translates to, "I never have to work again".^[4] In April 2009, a stretch of road in Warwick, Rhode Island, which passes the office of Ed Valenti was named "Ginsu Way".^[5]

The knife brand gained notoriety in 1993 when Lorena Bobbitt used a Ginsu kitchen knife to sever her husband's penis^[6] while he slept.

Ginsu brand in the 2020s[]

As of 2021, Ginsu knives are still manufactured and sold. The Quikut and Ginsu brands have both been manufactured in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, since the Douglas (vacuum cleaners) and Quikut (knives) operating units of Scott Fetzer merged subsequent to 1985. Douglas Quikut also manufactures ReadiVac and American Angler brands.

In 2013, Consumer Reports reviewed the Ginsu Chikara knife set in their comparison of fifty knife sets and rated it as their "Best Buy".^[7]^[8]^[9]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Quoted in obituary of Barry Becher, The Washington Post (DC), June 28, 2012, p. B6.
^ Reynolds, Bill (December 12, 1982), "GINSU! It came from Warwick – it devoured the marketing world", Sunday Journal Magazine, p. 3
^ Auchmutey, Jim (1983), "But wait, there's more!", Advertising Age Special Report, p. 1.
^ Hevesi, Dennis (30 June 2012). "Barry Becher, a Creator of Ginsu Knife Commercials, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
^ "But wait, there's more! Call that road Ginsu". Associated Press. 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
^ SIMON, ROGER. "Was Lorena Bobbitt's act 'an irresistible impulse?'". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
^ "Kitchen Knife Ratings & Reviews - Consumer Reports". www.consumerreports.org.
^ DiClerico, Daniel. "In Consumer Reports' tests of cut-rate knives, Ginsu skewers Ronco". Yahoo!.
^ [1]^{[dead link]}

External links[]

[Barry_Becher_2012-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d Quoted in obituary of Barry Becher, The Washington Post (DC), June 28, 2012, p. B6.

[Reynolds-2] Reynolds, Bill (December 12, 1982), "GINSU! It came from Warwick – it devoured the marketing world", Sunday Journal Magazine, p. 3

[3] Auchmutey, Jim (1983), "But wait, there's more!", Advertising Age Special Report, p. 1.

[4] Hevesi, Dennis (30 June 2012). "Barry Becher, a Creator of Ginsu Knife Commercials, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2013.

[rhodeisland-5] "But wait, there's more! Call that road Ginsu". Associated Press. 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-04-04.

[6] SIMON, ROGER. "Was Lorena Bobbitt's act 'an irresistible impulse?'". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-01-06.

[7] "Kitchen Knife Ratings & Reviews - Consumer Reports". www.consumerreports.org.

[8] DiClerico, Daniel. "In Consumer Reports' tests of cut-rate knives, Ginsu skewers Ronco". Yahoo!.

[9] [1]^{[dead link]}

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

show v t Knives and daggers
List of daggers List of blade materials
Kitchen and table knives	Boning Bread knife Butcher knife Butter knife Case knife Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Electric knife Fillet knife Grapefruit knife Lame Mezzaluna Parmesan knife Pizza cutter Splayd Steak knife Tomato knife Japanese kitchen knives Deba bōchō Maguro bōchō Nakiri bōchō Santoku Sashimi bōchō Udon kiri Unagisaki hōchō Usuba bōchō Yanagi ba
Other knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boot knife Bowie Cane knife Ceramic knife Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Golok Gravity knife Guna Hacking knife Higonokami Hunting knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kard Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Marking knife Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pirah Pocketknife Phurba Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Warrior knife Wedung X-Acto Yatagan
Daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Balarao Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Gunong Hunting dagger Janbiya Jile Kabutowari Kaiken Kalis Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Kunai Marine Raider Mark I trench knife Parrying dagger Poignard Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō V-42 Yarará Parachute Knife Yoroi-dōshi
Manufacturers	Aitor Knife Company Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Aritsugu Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives CHROMA Cnife Clauss Cutlery Company Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Dalian Hanwei Metal Dexter-Russell DOVO Solingen Due Ancore Ek Commando Knife Co. EKA Emerson Knives F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Gerber Legendary Blades Füritechnics Glock Ges.m.b.H. Imperial Schrade Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives Marble Arms Medford Knife and Tool Microtech Knives Morseth Muela Murphy Knives Olfa Ontario Knife Company Opinel Randall Made Knives Rösle Sabatier Shun Cutlery Slice, Inc. SOG Specialty Knives Spyderco STI Knives Strider Knives Thiers Issard TOPS Knives Tramontina Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Carl Walther GmbH Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Wüsthof Yoshida Metal Industry Global Zero Tolerance Knives Zwilling J. A. Henckels
Knifemakers	Rex Applegate James Black Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Bill Harsey Jr. Phill Hartsfield Gil Hibben Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve A. G. Russell Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler
Associations	American Bladesmith Society Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association Knifemakers' Guild
Category:Knives / Daggers

Ginsu

Contents

History[]

Ginsu brand in the 2020s[]

References[]

Further reading[]

External links[]