Ginsu

Ginsu (/ˈɡɪnsuː/; pseudoword meant to evoke the idea of samurai heritage)[1] is a brand of direct marketed knives.

The brand was heavily promoted in the late 1970s and 1980s on U.S. television by using infomercials characterized by hawker and hard sell pitch techniques.

"Ginsu has everything a great direct-response commercial could have," said John Witek, a marketing consultant and author of Response Television: Combat Advertising of the 1980s.

"[14][15] Valenti and Becher later repeated the advertising formula with other products such as the Miracle Slicer, Royal Durasteel mixing bowls, Vacufresh storage containers, the Chainge Adjustable Necklace, and Armourcote Cookware.

TV pitchmen Billy Mays and Vince Offer employed the hard-sell informercial to great success in more contemporary times.

"[16] In April 2009, a stretch of road in Warwick, Rhode Island, which passes the office of Ed Valenti, was named "Ginsu Way.

[19] In 1986 Scott & Fetzer was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway of Omaha, NE, an insurance holding company and the Quikut and Ginsu brand knife production moved to a new plant in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas in 1972.