Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1980
Infomercial
information commercial
- Meaning
- A long-form TV advertisement styled as editorial content.
- Source words
- information + commercial
- Coined by
- US advertising industry
- Year
- 1980
Background
Accompanied the 1984 deregulation of US cable TV, which lifted the cap on ad length. "Advertorial" (advertisement + editorial) covers the print equivalent.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
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