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Pitchmen Mourn Loss of 'OxiClean Guy' PDF Print E-mail
by Tom McGregor    Mon, Jun 29, 2009, 01:38 PM

Billy Mays.jpgThe bearded, boisterous pitchman, Billy Mays, had become an unlikely pop-culture icon as the undisputed king of TV yell-and-sell. He died in his Tampa, Fla. home on Sunday at aged-50.

Tampa police informed the Associated Press that his wife found him unresponsive early Sunday morning. He was pronounced dead by a fire rescue crew at 7:45 a.m.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, "the man many TV viewers knew as "the OxiClean guy" was among the passengers on a US Airways flight that made a rough landing Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport. Mays told Tampa's Fox TV-affiliate that something fell from the ceiling and hit him on the head, 'but I got a hard head.' A police spokeswoman said linking his death to the rough landing would "purely be speculation."

As frequently as 400 times a week, his "Hi! Billy Mays here!" signaled yet another commercial for either the Mighty Putty, Simoniz Fix It scratch remover, the Big City Slider Station, the Handy Switch, the Awesome Auger and many other "As Seen on TV" products. Forbes magazine has revealed that his amazing efforts acounted for more than $1 billion in combined sales for the products he pitched.

As reported by the Statesman, "recently, he was featured on the Discovery Channel reality show 'Pitchmen,' which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan, his business partner and producer, as they entice viewers with such new gadgets as the Impact Gel shoe insert, the Tool Band-It and the Soft Buns portable seat cushion."

Earlier this year, the Tampa Tribune quoted 'OxiClean Guy' as saying, "one of the things that we hope to do with 'Pitchmen' is to give people an appreciation of what we do. I don't take on a product unless I believe in it. I use everything that I sell."

His survivers include his wife, Deborah Mays of Tampa.

To read the entire article from the Austin American-Statesman, link here:

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Comments (4)add comment
...
written by john k. , June 29, 2009

I bought some big tubs of OxiClean because of him. It still didn't take the old stains off my underware like I thought it would. God rest his soul, he may have a better chance at heaven then some of the other recently deceased.


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written by Marty , June 30, 2009

I agree with john k. I, too, thought OxyClean did a lousy job. I get much better results sticking with Clorox 2 for colors and plain bleach for whites.


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written by john k. , June 30, 2009

I finally bought some of the S---t and it didn't clean any thing except my pocket. I hope I didn't put a curse on him for that experience, but nobody desires to die unexpectedly. Only die expecting it by one of the states methods,such as injections,hanging,fireing squads,or the chair.


...
written by bk , June 30, 2009

I guess the market's open for the Shamwow guy, headset and all.

There's a political parable here somewhere.

RIP.




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