Five years have passed, and we still miss Billy Mays. Death took him at the apex of his career, and it’s hard not to wonder what he’d be doing today if he was still with us. So far, no one has inherited the mantle of his blue shirt, not Anthony “Sully” Sullivan, nor Vince Offer. Continue reading
When it was released on this day 50 years ago, director Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb became an instant countercultural classic.
This satirical take on the Soviet-U.S. arms race and the Cold War stars British comic actor Peter Sellers in several roles, including that of the titular character, who eventually finds it impossible to restrain the impulse to give the U.S. president a Nazi salute with his leather-gloved hand.
Own Dr. Strangelove now for less than eight bucks at Amazon.com.
A. J. Khubani has spent decades convincing people to buy products they didn’t know they needed. He hit the stratosphere with the PedEgg, which has sold 45 million units. His other successes include Ambervision sunglasses and the Windshield Wonder. Fox affiliate My9 NJ recently aired a 20-minute segment profiling the infomercial maestro on the 30th anniversary of his billion-dollar company, TeleBrands.
Time passes so quickly – it’s hard to believe that this is the third anniversary of the death of Billy Mays. We still miss him, and wonder what he would be pitching today, if Death had not taken him at the top of his game. We’ll never know, so let’s console ourselves with a survey of “Every Product Billy Mays Ever Pitched” from the folks at MentalFloss (or check our Top Ten Billy Mays Commercials). As devoted Billy Mays fanatics, we think they may have missed couple, but we applaud their efforts anyway – and we’ll close IN ALL CAPS TO HONOR BILLY’S UNIQUE PITCHING STYLE. GODSPEED, BILLY!
Some folks call it BILLY MAYS MEMORIAL CAPS LOCK DAY, some call it BILLY MAYS REMEMBRANCE DAY, but we all TYPE IN CAPS TO HONOR BILLY’S UNIQUE PITCHING STYLE. LOVE IT OR HATE IT, PUMP UP THE VOLUME OR HIT THE MUTE BUTTON, WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT BILLY MAYS CONVINCED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO BUY THE PRODUCTS HE PITCHED. HE WAS A FULL-VOLUME PITCHMAN, AND A STAND-UP GUY, AND THAT’S WHY TODAY WE SHOUT OUT IN ALL CAPS.
We celebrated with angel food cake with blue butter-cream flowers just the shade of Billy’s famous shirt. And missed him. Even though we are really looking forward to PitchMen Season 2 and can’t wait to see Sully, Billy Mays III and Arwen, it’s bitter-sweet that Billy had just hit it big when he died. All those pitches and commercials led up to a very successful show on the Discovery Channel and appearances with Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. He had just signed a deal with Taco Bell to film commercials for the chain. I can’t help but wonder what other successes would have been his – he was a big believer in the American Dream, and not even the sky was his limit.
It’s hard to believe it’s been an entire year, but today is the first anniversary of Billy Mays’ death. Are you rocking that blue shirt? ‘Cause you gotta – it’s how we honor the greatest pitchman who ever pitched a product. A year ago today he passed away at the age of 50, leaving us to eulogize him on YouTube and mop our tears with Zorbeez (the power to absorb up to 27 times greater than paper towels or any cotton cloth!).
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! According to urbandictionary.com, it’s officially Billy Mays Day: “It’s Traditional to wear a blue collared shirt with a white under shirt. Must also wear khakis. You must use CAPS LOCK the whole day. Even when talking to family or friends. If you can grow a beard by then, you are the man.”
SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE’S SOME LINKS TO HELP YOU CELEBRATE BILLY MAYS REMEMBRANCE DAY:
WE MISS YOU, BILLY.