The Shamwow Guy Is Running for Office in Texas (He's a Fan of Charlie Kirk)

AP Photo/Eric Gay

Is this a sign that politics is little more than infotainment these days?  Possibly. But wait there's more!

Offer Vince Shlomi aka Vince Offer aka the Shamwow guy, is running for office in Texas as a Republican. And it sounds like he's a pretty conservative guy and a fan of Charlie Kirk.

Advertisement

Famous infomercial pitchman Offer Vince Shlomi – better known as the "ShamWow guy" who advertised the super-absorbent towel on late-night TV – has filed to run for Congress in Texas as a Republican, according to state election records...

Shlomi told Fox News Digital in an interview Sunday that his decision to run for office was ultimately motivated by a desire to "destroy wokeism" and as a tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, whom he called the original "woke buster." He added that the "political infighting in the country" eventually inspired him to seek office and "make America happy."

The 61-year-old Israeli-American entrepreneur is aiming to unseat Congressman John Carter, R-Texas, the 84-year-old incumbent who is seeking re-election in the district. Carter's turf includes the northern Austin suburbs, Temple and Fort Hood.

Vince is one of five challengers in that race, all trying to take on John Carter who is running for his 12th term. Vince may have some challenges in his run for office, including an arrest that made a lot of news back in 2009.

Shlomi recently told TMZ.com that he "gave up" on dealing with hookers after his South Beach ordeal earlier this year that made more news than those super-absorbent thingies he hocks.

In February, Shlomi and his hired honey got into a free-for-all in a hotel room that ended with Shlomi's tongue nearly bitten off and the prostitute being punched upside the head by the pitchman. Shlomi allegedly paid the woman $1,000 for "straight sex" but got a little too frisky for her tastes.

Advertisement

He later told an interviewer he'd learned from his mistakes.

Shlomi told NBC News in an interview for a 2013 article that he takes "full responsibility" for his actions and that he would cut down on partying.

“People understand you make mistakes in life,” he said. “Hopefully I won’t make another mistake.”

He also has a career in edgy comedy. In fact, he first got into infomercials as a way to sell his indy comedy film.

In 1996, Offer directed and appeared in The Underground Comedy Movie, which was met with negative reviews and led to several lawsuits. Many of the sketches were remade from when Offer appeared on public access television around the 1980s. Although the film was released and screened in 1999, Offer was bankrupt by 2002 and home video distribution plans were shelved, so he started selling the film via infomercials airing on Comedy Central between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM. Within a few months, he had earned enough to resume production, and the movie was finally completed, released, and marketed entirely on late-night infomercials that Offer paid for with his earnings from the swap meet vegetable chopper sales. The film has sold in excess of 100,000 copies and Offer has used the proceeds from sales to file a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.

He ultimately is best known though for two infomercials he created in the 2000s that were widely seen at the time. The first was one for a cleaning towel which he dubbed the Shamwow.

Advertisement

Vince claims he has sold millions of these and that seems possible. About a year later he was back with another pitch, this time for the Slap-Chop, a kitchen gadget. This one features the unforgettable line "You're gonna love my nuts."

I never bought either of these products but I have to say that both of these ads are absurdly entertaining. Usually I'm ready to hit the mute button 5 seconds into an ad. Both of these actually hold your attention for nearly 2 minutes. So while I'm not a customer I do appreciate there is some genuine craft that has gone into these pitches. He's really good at this. And you can kind of see how that skill might transfer to politics, at least potentially.

Will Vince Offer be able to pitch himself as a conservative woke buster in the suburbs of Austin? I guess we'll see over the next few months.

Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Hot Air's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.

Join Hot Air VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement