For decades, Ronco was the king of infomercials with famous products like the Showtime Rotisserie, the Ronco Food Dehydrator, and of course the famed Veg-O-Matic, which slices, dices, and makes julienned fries. Now the iconic infomercial company has filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure funding through an IPO, the San Diego Union Tribune reported. Ronco founder and spokesperson Ron Popeil created the company in the 1960s and became famous on TV for his trademark pitches like, "set it and forget it," and "it slices, it dices!" Most of his products were kitchen items like the Veg-O-Matic, Showtime Rotisserie, Inside-the-Shell Electric Egg Scrambler, a Chop-O-Matic handheld food processor, a five-minute pasta maker, and an electric food dehydrator. Popeil sold the company for close to $60 million in 2005. Ronco has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy after an attempt last year to raise $30 million through an unconventional IPO that offered a 20-percent discount on Ronco products to anybody who purchased more than $1,000 worth of Ronco stock.
