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Ronco, the company made famous for late-night commercials promoting such useful products such as the pocket fisherman and of course the Veg-o-Matic, has hit hard times, and is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "But wait!" as the commercials used to say. "There's more!"
The bankruptcy court proceedings were recently livened up by a discussion of Jill Kelly, whom CFO.com described with a straight face as an "award-winning porn star." It turns out that former Ronco CEO Richard Allen has asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in California to examine what current CFO Ronald C. Stone disclosed about his work with Kelly as finance chief for Jill Kelly Productions, a producer of adult entertainment that's not of the Trivial Pursuit nature.
CFO.com, unfortunately, is light on the juicy details. Still, Allen mentioned in court an interview with Kelly by AVN (Adult VIdeo News) in which she disclosed firing Stone for poor performance (as CFO) and blamed him for allowing the company to fall into insolvency. The Web site adds that most of the assets of Kelly's company were later sold to Penthouse Media Group for $1.8 million.
But wait! That's not all!
Ronco fired Allen last year for improperly booking about $150,000 worth of expenses, a charge CFO.com says Allen rebuffs, "noting it is not uncommon for a CEO to spend that much on international and domestic travel and entertainment during the course of a year."
Of course.
Founder Ron Popeil sure doesn't sound like a guy who is owed $1.5 million on his website when he talks about the company he made famous. "If I believe in a product idea, I'll put my time, money, and marketing skills behind it. It might take two-and-a-half years of my life to create a product and sell. But, I enjoy every minute of it!"
Act now, supplies are limited.
Image grab from this Biography.com video.
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
8-02-2007 @ 7:23PM
raven said...
So Ron, what did Jeffery Daumer say to Lorraina Bobbit ... are you going to eat that and by the way did you use the ginzu serated knife?
8-02-2007 @ 7:25PM
bendc said...
I met Ron Popeil this year in Cabo San Lucas.
He is a great guy. Very smart and generous with his time. I told him I was a marketer and he gave me some words of wisdom I'll never forget.
This article isn't about Ron but I thought I'd share this with you all.
He also knows a lot about olive oil.
Interesting guy.
8-02-2007 @ 7:55PM
venise50 said...
The rotesserie grill makes a mess? So what... clean it.
great invention and i been using it for years....
Never was disappointed.... Turkey and prime rib was awesome.
8-02-2007 @ 7:54PM
Steve said...
Was that set it and forget it, or stick it and lick it ?
He couldnot sell the dildomatic on tv.
8-02-2007 @ 7:59PM
cacho said...
If only Steve Goodman were alive today...I wonder what he would write about this
8-02-2007 @ 8:06PM
Jerry said...
Yawnnnnnnnnnnn!
8-02-2007 @ 8:39PM
Eric said...
Ron Popiel sold this company something like 5 years ago. It's really shoddy and sensationalistic journalism to show his picture with this story. He had absolutely nothing to do with this. Shame on you.
8-02-2007 @ 11:18PM
Ed B. said...
New Product Alert: The RONCO fur lined Handcuffs. Your chicken can be done in the blink of an eye.
8-03-2007 @ 8:16AM
Maggie said...
The real story here is that somebody in the media acknowledged that pornography is raunchy!