Editing Ron Popeil (section)

==Popular culture==
Popeil's success in infomercials, memorable marketing personality, and ubiquity on American television have allowed him and his products to appear in a variety of popular media environments including cameo appearances on television shows such as ''[[The X-Files]]'',{{efn|In the episode "[[Beyond the Sea (The X-Files)|Beyond the Sea]]", Special Agent [[Dana Scully]] is shown sleeping with her television on while Ron Popeil touts the wonders of his Spray-On Hair (Great Looking Hair Formula #9) for only $39.92. The ad continues for a few seconds, displaying the product's fabulous abilities before shifting to show Scully awakening to the ghost of her recently deceased father.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} ''[[Futurama]]'',{{efn|In the episode "[[A Big Piece of Garbage]]", Ron Popeil is said to be the inventor of a fictional technology which allows heads to be [[isolated brain|kept alive in jars]] indefinitely. Popeil appears in the episode as one of the talking heads. ({{cite web |last1=Bratskeir |first1=Kate |title=8 Reasons You Shouldn't Underestimate The Greatness Of Ron Popeil: 8 Things You Never Knew About Ron Popeil, The Greatest Inventor Of All Time |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-popeil-facts-wow_n_5926408 |website=[[HuffPost|Huffington Post]] |access-date=March 7, 2023 |date=December 6, 2017}})}}{{efn|In the episode "[[The Luck of the Fryrish]]", Fry keeps his lucky seven-leaf clover in a "Ronco Record Vault".{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} ''[[King of the Hill]]'',{{efn|In the episode "[[Won't You Pimai Neighbor?]]",  Dale Gribble states that if Bobby Hill incorrectly chooses from among the items possibly owned by the late Lama Sanglung, Bobby Hill will win a cap snaffler and that the cap snaffler, "Snaffles caps of any size jug, bottle or jar... and it really really works".{{cn|date=August 2021}}}}{{efn|In the episode "[[The Perils of Polling]]", Dale Gribble asks if Hank got him a cap snaffler while Hank and Dale are being escorted to the polling place by the police.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} ''[[The Simpsons]]'',{{efn|In the episode entitled "[[Radio Bart]]", Bart Simpson receives a "Superstar Celebrity Microphone" for his birthday.  The toy and the TV advertisements for it were modeled after Ronco's "Mr. Microphone".{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} ''[[Sex and the City]]'',{{efn|[[List of Sex and the City episodes#Season 4: 2001–2002|Season 4 Episode 13]] where the character Miranda is seen watching a Ron Popeil infomercial{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} ''[[The Daily Show]]'',{{efn|The famous line "Set it and forget it!", from the Showtime Rotisserie commercial, was used after showing the "catch phrase" discussions of the Senate debating the War in Iraq.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} and ''[[The West Wing]]''.{{efn|[[List of The West Wing episodes#Season 4: 2002–2003|Season 4 Episode 15]] where President Bartlet is zapping through the TV program and sees a glimpse of Ron Popeil jumping on the stage in an informercial.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} Parodies of Popeil's infomercials were done on the comedy show ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' by [[Dan Aykroyd]]{{efn|The "Veg-O-Matic" was parodied as the "Super Bass-O-Matic '76". This parody is mentioned in the ''Biography'' episode on Popeil.{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} and [[Eddie Murphy]]<ref>(September 25, 1982) [[Saturday Night Live commercial]] for the "Popeil Galactic Prophylactic".{{cn|date=August 2021}}</ref> and the "Veg-O-Matic" may have provided comedian [[Leo Gallagher|Gallagher]] inspiration for the "Sledge-O-Matic" routine since the 1980s. The animated series ''[[VeggieTales]]'' once featured a parody of the "Veg-O-Matic" dubbed as the "Forgive-O-Matic".{{efn| VeggieTales: "God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!". Released October 1994{{cn|date=August 2021}}}} "Additionally, the professional wrestling [[tag team]] [[The Midnight Express (professional wrestling)|The Midnight Express]] dubbed their finishing move the [[Professional wrestling double-team maneuvers#Bearhug hold, top rope legdrop combination|Veg-O-Matic]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eighinger |first1=S. |title=Legendary 'hair in a can' remains all-time king of infomercials |url=https://www.whig.com/archive/article/eighinger-legendary-hair-in-a-can-remains-all-time-king-of-infomercials/article_99f90373-92b6-5491-9d84-356e8b332b5d.html |access-date=September 1, 2021 |work=[[Quincy Media|Herald-Whig]] |date=October 30, 2020}}</ref> 

Popeil was voted by [[Self (magazine)|''Self'']] magazine readers as one of the 25 people who have changed the way we eat, drink and think about food.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ronco.com/index.aspx|title=ronco.com|access-date=April 16, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110417144418/http://www.ronco.com/index.aspx|archive-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref>

Popeil has been referenced in the music of [[Alice Cooper]], the [[Beastie Boys]], and [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]. Yankovic's song "Mr. Popeil" was a tribute (and featured his sister [[Lisa Popeil]] on backing vocals). Ron Popeil later used this song in some of his infomercials.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cudmore |first1=Libby |title='Weird Al' Yankovic's 'In 3-D' Turns 35 {{!}} Anniversary Retrospective |url=https://www.albumism.com/features/weird-al-yankovic-in-3-d-turns-35-anniversary-retrospective |website=Albumism |access-date=September 1, 2021 |date=February 27, 2019}}</ref>

In the 2007 film [[Funny Games (2007 film)|''Funny Games'']], one of the characters is [[channel surfing]] and briefly flicks past an infomercial for Ron Popeil's Vegetable Dehydrator. In the 1996 horror film ''[[Scream (1996 film)|Scream]]'', the catchphrase is said ("But wait, there's more!"), itself in the tradition of a horror film's saying of a famous TV catchphrase, in the 1980s horror film ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]''{{'s}} saying of [[Ed McMahon#The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|"Here's Johnny!" (Carson) by announcer Ed McMahon]].

In [[Malcolm Gladwell]]'s book ''[[What the Dog Saw|What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures]]'', Popeil is interviewed and many of his products, most notably the Veg-O-Matic and Showtime Rotisserie, are discussed. Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' piece "The Pitchman" about Popeil won Gladwell the 2001 National Magazine award.<ref>Malcolm Gladwell, [http://gladwell.com/the-pitchman/ "The Pitchman"]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083142/http://gladwell.com/the-pitchman/ |date=November 15, 2017}}. ''[[The New Yorker]]''.</ref>