Ed Valenti is an American television personality and entrepreneur best known as an early pioneer of

infomercials An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

and for creating the

Ginsu Ginsu () 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 ...

knives. In 1975, Valenti and his business partner

Barry Becher Ginsu () 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 ...

founded Dial Media, Inc. (now PriMedia Inc), one of the first major

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

companies in the world. Valenti is credited with coining a number of phrases widely adopted by the industry, including: “But wait, there’s more!”, “Now how much would you pay?” and “This is a limited-time offer, so call now.”

Books

* "The Wisdom of Ginsu: Carve Yourself a Piece of the American Dream". Career Press (March 2005).

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Infomercials Living people {{US-business-bio-stub