Montel Can Sell
After a successful daytime talk show and a long battle against multiple sclerosis, Montel Williams is turning to sales. He’ll be appearing on TV promoting his own branded health products, and despite less than favorable economic conditions, he’s hoping you’ll buy them.
He had a brief stint as a star in last year’s commercials for the Obama Coin Collection (regular quarters, half-dollar and dollar coins covered in stickers with the president’s picture) and has written eight books about health and wellness. Williams will be back on TV soon to introduce nine products under the Living Well with Montel brand, including comfort items, kitchen gadgets and age-defying supplements.
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“I’m trying to teach people that, no matter what’s going on with you, you can still thrive and flourish,” says Williams.
The Products
In the coming weeks, Williams will begin to advertise a number of items produced by Tristar Products, known for earlier hits like the Jack Lalane Juicer and the Ab Roller. Among other things, Montel’s product line will include:
- The Toasty Wrap ($19.95 plus shipping and handling), a Snuggie-like product. If you've been living sans TV and Internet for the past six months, the Snuggie is the most famous blanket with sleeves.
- The Living Well with Montel Rotisserie ($89.97), a toaster-sized contraption with removable and dishwasher-safe parts designed to lock in the natural juices of fresh and frozen foods. You can cook and drain off fat from meat, vegetables, and “guiltless potatoes,” according to the product description. But for those who are cutting carbs, there’s nothing guiltless about potatoes, sour cream or not.
- The Living Well branded HealthmasterT emulsifying blender, an idea spurred by his own diet, 70% of which consists of liquefied or emulsified food. Montel claims the emulsifier will help you increase your energy, improve vitality, lose weight and save money. For $149.97 plus shipping and handling, you’ll get a polycarbonate plastic, eight-speed, two-horsepower blender, which, with a little friction and noise, can also heat up soups as you blend them.
But what about quality? Last year, Tristar recalled 13,500 of its “Hulk Hogan’s Ultimate Grill” electric contact grills which could catch fire when cooking oils were used before preheating, and 5,000 Steam Buggy Deluxe steam cleaners in 2004 that posed a burn hazard, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. But Williams’s blender and rotisserie do come with a 60-day money back guarantee.
Williams is also selling an anti-aging supplement, Protandim, through one of his many web sites.
