ShamWow Vince, a true inspiration story

While I may have recently sort of  made it a point with tongue-in-cheek to proclaim Vince of ShamWow fame my personal hero, this time I might actually mean it. As it turns out, Vince Offer is not only an infomercial master, but a victim and subsequent comeback story of the abuses of the Church of Scientology. (Like me! No? Not really, no.)

It should be noted that all the information I’m typing here is a virtual copy-paste from this magnificently crafted blog. But seeing as how you’re too lazy to click on a hyperlink I’ll give you the rundown:

• In the late 90s, Vince Offer was a recently converted and devoted member of CoS when he decided to try his hand at film making and began crafting the god-awful “Underground Comedy Movie.” He utilized his CoS connections to cast, film and produce the movie (which also generated a lot of shady law suits, possibly due to those same connections) via celebrity centers and the like .
• During production, the movie was seen as revolting enough to the point that CoS publicly shunned and eventually martyred Vince, going so far as to generate a very thorough smear campaign against him and bring him to “trial” in CoS court. He was summarily found guilty of all “charges” and ejected from the church. Scientology had accomplished what it seems to be so good at doing with a lot of its members; ruining his life, leaving him broke and friendless.
• Offer got a somewhat lousy job as a salesman but managed to become quite good at selling kitchen products at some point. He sold the shiny objects at various fairs and local festivals and built an effective sales team from the ground up. He also managed to save enough money to finish his terrible DVD movie and release it in 2002-2003 and sold quite a few copies, over 100,000.
• Offer sued the CoS in 2004 for destroying his business, taking all of his money, ruining his life, and lying about all of it. The case is still ongoing (rather, the outcome is unknown), but Vincey dedicates his time and money to bringing the SLEAZY, MAGNIFICENTLY AWFUL CULT OF SCIENTOLOGY TO JUSTICE, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS HAVE BEFORE HIM. SCREW YOU, SCIENTOLOGY.
• As of 2008 Vince Offer is one of the top three pitch artists of our time, next to Billy Mays and Ron Popeil.

So I shed a single tear of pride for Vince Offer, a single tear for what he’s been through, and I throw the biggest high-five I’m capable of giving for how this hilariously obnoxious peddler of efficient kniknacks has become (in my eyes) a phoenixesque success story.