I was very confused when I, at age 11, read a comic published in 1990 (I think) and saw an advertisement for (I think) a boxing video game with George Foreman on the cover. I thought "huh, I wonder if he's related to the guy who invented that grill on TV".
I asked my mom and she laughed, and that day I truly learned about celebrity endorsements.
Obviously a full-sized grill would have been better, but I didn't really have that as an option in my apartment. It was easy to clean, cooked stuff relatively quickly, and neatly fit right next to my toaster. I think it's a good product for what it is.
Why they got a retired boxer to promote it, I have no idea.
What made him so affable was his deep humanity and kindness.
And the endorsement worked, for sure!
And the endorsement definitely worked. It's possible that the grill might have still been successful without his branding, but we don't know that what-if, we just know that the grills that had his branding definitely were successful.
Now, that out of the way, the Foreman Grill was/is? a nifty little product that actually worked really well. I was gifted one, and despite having a really nice grill and big yard, sometimes I just want to be quick and lazy and bang something out.
It is a really good product.
It especially stands out if on a diet and going to eat a lot of chicken breast.
Steak I wouldn't cook in it but it makes great chicken. Especially on a diet that you aren't going to add much else calorie wise with how you cook it.
Then you need something to trigger them to say yes, I want that.
Aside - many people want something easy for them to use, which this thing was. Julia Child's success is a great lesson of a very good chef making it simple & showing mistakes.