Any veritable business genius holds one truth to be self-evident: Creativity is the engine of all great entrepreneurship.
The same goes for entrepreneurship of the slightly more misguided persuasion.
Anyone can peddle something obviously useful like a lightbulb. It takes true brilliance to build a brand story around something as random as a blanket allowing for the full use of your hands without sacrificing an inch of cozy coverage.
Take, for instance, snake oil—a modern synonym for deceptive marketing based on an actual historical moment.
In the Victorian era, traveling salespeople shilled vials of this substance, which they claimed to be an illness-curing serpentine secretion, but the tinctures were actually a mixture of plain old H2O and a few herbs. This paved the way for eons of advertisers to imbue any product with magical abilities if they have enough charisma.
Since then, outlaw inventors, suburban moms, and business school dropouts have flooded the market with sundries that both confound and captivate. “Miracle” products like this provide the fodder for FOX’s newest game show Snake Oil, hosted and produced by David Spade and executive-produced by Will Arnett.
Premiering September 27 after The Masked Singer and streaming the next day on Hulu, here’s how the show works:
Eager contestants are presented with a suite of gewgaws by convincing entrepreneurs—some of whom showcase real ventures, while others are “snake oil sellers” pitching fake products. With the help of celebrity guest advisors, these hopefuls must determine which gadgets are real and which are malarkey, then place bets on the ones deemed legit for a chance to win life-changing money.
Each outrageous product is presented with a physical prototype, a snappy infomercial, and a good grilling of the business rep themselves. The stakes are high, and the bullsh*it is higher on this new must-watch based on timeless scammer tactics.
Will the contestants be able to identify what’s real and what’s snake oil? Do you think you could do any better?
To gear up for the premiere, we’re testing the snake oil senses of Onion readers in five product pairings.
Good luck! And remember: if you can dream it, you can patent it.
Don’t miss the premiere of
This post is a sponsored collaboration between FOX’s Snake Oil and G/O Media Studios.
