Billy Mays – Larger Then Life

The famous, booming voice and larger then life personality that visited every Americans home for so many years on a daily basis was silenced yesterday morning. Billy Mays, the television pitchman for such products as OxiClean and Orange Glo passed away Sunday morning in his Tampa, Florida home.

I never really paid much attention to the man behind those 2 minute mini-infomercials. I was always fascinated and focused on the products he was trying to sell. OxiClean and Orange Glo became two of my best friends after I saw Mays demonstrating them in his booming voice and animated selling style.

This year the Discovery Channel aired a new documentary show called ‘Pitchmen.’ Mays starred with partner Anthony Sullivan in the reality show which followed the infomercial kings as they searched for new inventions to plug. They would seek out new inventions and help their inventors bring them to market. Sullivan would use his studios for infomercial production and Mays would pitch the product.

My first thought was ‘They must be desperate for content.’ Then I watched it. I was hooked. The amazing thing was that for the first time I actually saw Billy Mays the man. I was able to learn a small portion of his personality and what drove him; and he was a driven man.

Billy Mays would never pitch a product he didn’t believe in. If he wouldn’t use the product then he wouldn’t sell it. His home was full of products he has pitched, and he uses every single one of them. Despite the ‘salesman’ persona and the ‘bull in a china shop’ personality he puts forth when he’s selling Mays was a man of integrity. He loved his job and loved to go to work in the morning. Moreover, Mays loved helping inventors bring their products to market and making their dreams come true.

So I said all this to say one simple thing. I truly came to admire and respect Mr. Mays and he will be sorely missed in my life. Integrity is something sorely missed in our culture today.