George Foreman Grill
| File:George Foreman Logo.JPG | |
| Invented by | Michael Boehm, Robert Johnson[1] |
|---|---|
| Launch year | 1994 |
| Company | Spectrum Brands |
| Availability | United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia |
| Website | George Foreman US, George Foreman UK |
The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, commonly known as the George Foreman Grill, is an indoor, electrically-heated grill manufactured by Spectrum Brands. It is promoted by former boxing champion George Foreman. Since its introduction in 1994, over 100 million George Foreman grills have been sold worldwide.[2]
History
The concept for the grill was created by Michael Boehm of Batavia, Illinois. The original intention was to create an indoor grill that would provide a unique benefit of cooking on both sides at once[3] A second key benefit was to reduce the fat content of hamburgers and other meats by draining away the fat into a separate reservoir. Michael Boehm designed the product with a floating hinge and slanted grilling surface to accommodate foods of different thicknesses and drain fat away from the food. Engineering work was done by Bob Johnson. The grill had been promoted at industry trade shows in the early 1990s, but received little interest.[4]
The slanted grill concept was pitched by Tsann Kuen to Salton Inc. Salton sent samples of the grill to George Foreman's colleagues who then sent the grill to George to test out. Michael had nothing to do with teaming up the grill and George.
The Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, as it became known, was introduced in 1994 and promoted with distinctive infomercials which featured Foreman. A combination of his affable personality and the unique features of the product made it a huge success. The product gained a certain success that it had previously not been able to attain prior to Foreman's endorsement. Such was the popularity of these infomercials that Foreman's famous tagline, "It's so good I put my name on it!",[5] is now part of popular culture. In Asia, the grill is endorsed and promoted by both George Foreman and Jackie Chan.
Design
The product has a clamshell design which simultaneously heats the top and bottom surfaces of the food, eliminating the need to flip it.[6] Each heating surface is grooved to reduce contact area, and covered in a non-stick coating. The lower heating surface is angled to allow melted fat and other fluids to drain through the grooves into a removable drip tray, which clearly shows the amount removed from the food. This arrangement has been marketed as a way to "knock out the fat", suggesting a healthier way to cook.
The grill is offered in various sizes for cooking individual or multiple servings. In 2006, the George Foreman "Next Grilleration" Health Grill was launched, which features detachable grilling plates for easier cleaning. It has gone through several other versions, differing in their control interfaces and design.
Reception
The worldwide popularity of the George Foreman grill has resulted in sales of over 100 million units since it was first launched, a feat that was achieved in a little over 15 years. Although Foreman has never confirmed exactly how much he has earned from the endorsement, Salton Inc paid him $137 million in 1999 in order to buy out the right to use his name.[7] Previous to that he was being paid about 40% of the profits on each grill sold (earning him $4.5 million a month in payouts at its peak), so it is estimated he has made a total of over $200 million from the endorsement, a sum that is substantially more than he earned as a boxer.[7]
Competition
The success of the George Foreman Grill spawned a variety of similar celebrity-endorsed products such as the "Evander Holyfield Real Deal Grill" and the "Carl Lewis Health Grill".[8] In the VH1 show Hogan Knows Best, Hulk Hogan claimed that he was offered the contract for the grill first, but missed his agent's phone call because he was "picking up the kids", and thus missed out on the endorsement. Instead, he endorsed a Hulk Hogan blender, and later the "Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill".[9]
See also
References
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