If you're like most Americans depicted in television ads, you wait until the day before Christmas to go shopping, at which point you go to Wal-mart and throw everything you see on the shelves into a basket and pay for it.

In order to make your job that much easier, here are a few suggestions for last-minute gifts that are sure to please even the pickiest friend or loved one.

The Chia Pet
The Clapper
Ginsu Knives
The Salad Shooter
The Tater Twister (apparently no longer for sale, check Ebay for this one)
The Egg Wave
The Ding King

I can only personally vouch for the Clapper and the Egg Wave as viable Christmas gifts. I got my mom the Clapper when I was 7 (as I child I was especially easy to influence with catchy jingles), but we were never really happy with its performance. Coughing near the TV would cause it to spontaneously turn on, while repeated loud clapping would do nothing. The old lady in the commercial seems happy with it though.