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I remember the first time I realized infomercials could lie to you. I saw a commercial for a kid's toy that you could get for a limited time for just a penny. (They even flashed a picture of a penny on the screen to really drive home the point.) I wrote down the phone number and showed it to my mom, which is when she promptly explained to me that "shipping and handling not included" meant "we're hiding the real cost of this useless item."
It was a rude awakening, but that doesn't mean my love of infomercials has lessened. Even if I know that 99% of what the product promises can't really come true, I love watching them. There's something oddly soothing about the formula: a sad person, shot in black and white, is completely incapable of cooking eggs or slicing vegetables, until a mysterious new product makes their world technicolor. Now, literally every meal you could want can be miraculously prepared with the aid of one device. So while I know all these amazing devices can't really be all that amazing, or even necessary, all too often, I find myself wanting one (or two, or three).
Ahead, find 16 of the craziest as-seen-on-TV kitchen implements that we have all secretly wanted, no matter how useless.
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