# Infomercial Fails > Infomercial Fails is a 2009 video-compilation meme from Everything Is Terrible's Funny or Die montage, featuring infomercial actors absurdly struggling with basic everyday tasks like cracking eggs or pouring drinks. Infomercial Fails are compilations of clips from television infomercials showing actors hilariously struggling with basic everyday tasks like cracking eggs, using cling wrap, or pouring drinks. The meme originated in September 2009 when Everything Is Terrible uploaded the first dedicated montage to Funny or Die, and it exploded across Reddit, Imgur, and Tumblr through 2012, spawning the massively popular subreddit r/wheredidthesodago. ## Origin Infomercials themselves date back decades. The word was coined in the 1980s by entertainment mogul Paul Ruffino, and the first infomercial aired in 1982, selling hair growth products[7]. But the internet's fascination with their unintentional comedy started on September 3, 2009, when the comedy collective Everything Is Terrible uploaded a montage to Funny or Die dedicated to the over-the-top struggles of infomercial actors[6]. The video compiled the most ridiculous "before" segments into a concentrated dose of incompetence. Blog commenters immediately latched onto the absurdity, with one noting they had "always wanted" to see someone compile these clips[1]. On April 18, 2010, filmmaker Derek Lieu uploaded a second compilation to YouTube titled "As Seen on TV: A Tribute to Doing It Wrong"[6]. Lieu set the clips to the Beatles song "Help!", turning the montage into something closer to a music video. By February 2013, that video had picked up over 2 million views[6]. The food blog Serious Eats spotlighted both compilations the same month Lieu's video went up[6]. - **Platform:** Funny or Die (first montage), YouTube / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Everything Is Terrible (first compilation), Derek Lieu (viral YouTube supercut) - **Date:** 2009 ## Overview Infomercial Fails center on the absurd "problem" segments that open TV infomercials. Before pitching their product, these commercials show actors failing spectacularly at simple household tasks: spilling entire bowls of food, struggling to operate blankets, dropping eggs directly onto burner plates, or somehow sending a hammer straight through drywall[8]. The exaggerated incompetence is meant to convince viewers they need whatever gadget is being sold, but stripped of context, the clips look like slapstick comedy performed by people who've never encountered basic household objects before. The format typically circulates as either supercut compilation videos set to music or as individual animated GIFs shared out of context. The black-and-white "before" segments, where actors look miserable and defeated by everyday life, are especially popular[1]. ## How It Spread Through 2011, Infomercial Fail compilations spread to sites like Pleated Jeans[9], Neatorama[2], and I Waste So Much Time. Neatorama's write-up captured the collective disbelief well, asking "how hard is cling wrap, really?"[2] January 2012 brought a dedicated Tumblr blog called "Infomercial Problems," which curated videos of the bizarre behavior on display in these commercials[6]. By August that year, the Huffington Post ran a feature on infomercial fails, describing the pleasure of watching salespeople get "injured, insulted and otherwise humiliated in the name of selling useless knick-knacks on TV"[3]. That same month, someone created an Imgur album of 141 infomercial GIFs, and a thread popped up on 4chan's /wsg/ (Work-Safe GIF) board asking for more[6]. September 26, 2012 was a big day for the meme. Both Uproxx and BuzzFeed published major compilations[5]. BuzzFeed's piece, titled "33 Infomercial Characters Who Need To Get Their Shit Together," catalogued individual GIFs with deadpan captions like "This woman who doesn't understand cling wrap" and "This woman giving up on cooking"[4]. The real turning point came on October 21, 2012, when a GIF of a family wildly overreacting to a mother spilling soda hit Reddit's r/funny, pulling in over 4,700 upvotes and 600 comments[6]. The very next day, the subreddit r/wheredidthesodago launched, named after the spilled soda GIF. The sub was dedicated entirely to out-of-context infomercial moments. Within three months it had over 125,000 subscribers[6]. A December 2012 GIF collection on r/Funny scored another 4,400 upvotes[6]. By February 2013, YouTube had more than 1,700 results for "bad infomercial"[6]. ## How to Use The Infomercial Fails format works in a few ways: - **GIF sharing:** Pull a clip of someone hilariously failing at a mundane task and share it as a reaction GIF. Works well when someone describes struggling with something that should be simple. The black-and-white "frustrated" clips are popular standalone reactions. - **Compilation videos:** Edit together multiple clips, often set to ironic music. Derek Lieu's Beatles "Help!" soundtrack set the template[6]. - **Out-of-context captioning:** Take a single infomercial moment and add a caption that reframes it. The r/wheredidthesodago community typically posts GIFs with absurd fictional backstories for what's happening on screen. - **Real-life comparison:** When someone botches a simple task, calling it an "infomercial fail" or saying they "infomercial failed" at something is common shorthand[8]. ## Cultural Impact The Urban Dictionary entry for Infomercial Fails defines the concept as failing "amazingly badly at a basic or simple task," using examples like "cracking an egg into a bowl and instead splattering egg and crushed shell pieces all over everything within three feet"[8]. The term crossed over into everyday slang for comedic incompetence. The r/wheredidthesodago subreddit turned what could have been a passing joke into a lasting community with its own creative format, where users write elaborate fake contexts for the clips. The subreddit's rapid growth to 125,000 subscribers in just three months showed real appetite for the humor[6]. Major outlets covered the trend: HuffPost called it "the Coke Zero of schadenfreude"[3], while Neatorama's commenters described imitating the ineptness of infomercial actors during real household chores[2]. Everything Is Terrible's original compilation drew passionate responses, with one commenter claiming they'd marry anyone who made exactly this kind of video[1]. ## Fun Facts - The very first filmed-for-TV infomercial was for a Vitamix blender in 1949. It ran at 12:30 a.m. on WOR-TV and pulled 130 orders by 1:10 a.m.[7] - The 4chan thread requesting infomercial GIFs appeared on the /wsg/ (Work-Safe GIF) board, one of the few SFW boards on the site[6]. - One commenter on the Everything Is Terrible blog proposed marriage to the video's creator, saying they had literally been waiting for someone to make this exact compilation[1]. - The infomercial industry is worth over $200 billion globally[7]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are Infomercial Fails? Infomercial Fails are clips from TV infomercials showing actors exaggerating struggles with simple everyday tasks, shared online as compilations or individual GIFs[6]. ### Where did Infomercial Fails come from? The first dedicated online compilation was made by Everything Is Terrible and uploaded to Funny or Die on September 3, 2009[6]. ### What does Infomercial Fails mean? The term describes both the clips themselves and the act of failing spectacularly at a basic task in real life, like the exaggerated incompetence shown in infomercials[8]. ### How do you use Infomercial Fails? Share individual GIFs as reactions when someone struggles with something simple, or enjoy compilation videos. The r/wheredidthesodago subreddit adds creative fictional captions to clips[6]. ### Are Infomercial Fails still popular? The format is a classic. While the peak compilation era was 2012-2013, r/wheredidthesodago built a lasting community, and the clips still circulate as reaction GIFs[6]. ### Who made the first Infomercial Fails video? The comedy collective Everything Is Terrible created the first known online montage, uploaded to Funny or Die on September 3, 2009[1]. ### What is r/wheredidthesodago? A Reddit community launched October 22, 2012, named after a viral GIF of a family overreacting to spilled soda. It's dedicated to sharing out-of-context infomercial GIFs with humorous captions and reached 125,000 subscribers within three months[6]. ### Who made the "As Seen on TV" YouTube compilation? Derek Lieu uploaded "As Seen on TV: A Tribute to Doing It Wrong" on April 18, 2010, setting infomercial fail clips to the Beatles song "Help!" It surpassed 2 million views by February 2013[6]. ### Why are infomercial actors so bad at simple tasks? The exaggerated incompetence is intentional. Infomercials stage these "problem" scenes to make viewers feel like they need the advertised product to solve a problem they probably don't actually have[2]. ### What was BuzzFeed's Infomercial Fails article? BuzzFeed published "33 Infomercial Characters Who Need To Get Their Shit Together" on September 26, 2012, cataloguing individual GIFs with sarcastic captions[4]. ## References 1. [TV – UPROXX]() 2. [Everything Is Terrible!: INFOMERCIAL HELL]() 3. [33 Infomercial Characters Who Need To Get Their Shit Together]() 4. [Infomercial Fails - Know Your Meme]() 5. [List of Internet phenomena]() 6. [Infomercial Fails - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Infomercial]() 8. [As Seen on TV: Infomercial Fails - Neatorama]() 9. [Miller]() 10. [13 Infomercial FAILS To Make You Cringe (VIDEO) | HuffPost Entertainment]() 11. [Supercut: Infomercial Fails |]() 12. [World's Funniest Memes - The Most Funniest Memes Are on I Waste So Much Time]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/infomercial-fails Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library