R.I.P. Billy Mays

Wow.  I don't know what to say.  What is going on with all of these celebrity deaths?  This has been a rough couple of weeks.  First it was Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.  Now it's Billy Mays.

Michael Jackson's death really messed me up because he was a big childhood idol of mine.  Although it was not as equally devastating to most people, the death of Billy Mays really upset me a well.  He is one of the main reasons that I started InformercialAddict.com.  I love infomercials because of this guy.

Even though most of the site is dedicated to making fun of the ridiculous and amusing infomercials on late night TV, I still felt the need to highlight Billy Mays in a serious manner.  I never thought the products he was promoting were a joke because he sold it so well.  He had ridiculous energy and always made you feel like he believed in the product he was selling.  There was nothing fake about him.

I think he was well on his way to becoming a much bigger star because of the success of his Discover Channel show "Pitchmen".  If you watched the show, you could see that not only was he very serious about his job but he was also a good guy who liked to have fun.  There was something about his personality that instantly made you like him and you could see that he was loved by people everywhere he went.  He will definitely be missed.  My love of infomercials may never be the same.

Here are a few of his classic infomercials and some random dedication videos below.  Check out my previous post "The Best of Billy Mays - Volume 1" or the Top 10 Billy Mays Commercials over at AsSeenOnTVVideo.com.  There are some super rare infomercials in there that even I have never seen!

This isn't quite infomercial related but it's definitely close enough to post on this site.  QVC and the Home Shopping Network are basically the live versions of infomercials anyway.  I'm sure most of the products discussed in this Current.com video have probably had some version of an infomercial at one time or another.

The funny thing is, this video is supposed to be making fun of all the crap they show you on these channels and how you don't really need them but I found myself thinking "Damn.  I kind of want that" or "Oh shit!  I NEED that!"

I already have a nice all in one printer with a scanner that I bought for about $100 but I definitely feel like I need the 4x6 portable photo scanner.  It's only $76.92!!!!  I'm an idiot.  

 

Watch ShamWow Guy in Jail and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

I have a feeling the real ShamWow Guy doesn't have the balls to do any of this in real life but I could totally see him setting up a table in the lunch room and schooling inmates on the finer qualities of an upgraded shank that they can purchase for a low introductory rate of 2 packs of smokes and a broken CD player.  What a jackass.

This is a freakin' awesome parody of the notorious Hooker Beating ShamWow guy, Vince Offer. It was so much better than I expected it to be too. My expectations were super low.  How many times have you actually seen a good infomercial parody?  Probably never. 

The guy playing the role as Vince does a great job of imitating the real Vince's voice inflections, catch phrases and ad libs which makes it that much better. He probably watched the ShamWow video about a billion times to get that down so good.

That was some funny ish...

This isn't exactly infomercial related but it does involve my main man Billy Mays, so I just had to post it up.  I expected this to be funnier but it doesn't matter.  Anything with Billy Mays in it is instantly on my must see list.

The video does get better at the end though.  He pays for his value meal with a $100 bill and then gets hit on by the two girls working the drive thru.  That's Infomercial Pimpin' at it's finest!!!

"NO F'N WAY!!!"  That's all I could say when I first heard about the new reality show "PitchMen" starring Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan.  This is an absolute dream come true.  Although I usually fun of infomercials, I do enjoy them quite a bit, especially when it's a cool and useful product and the pitch is done right.  It's cheesy but if you have something useful for a mass market, it's a great way to sell a product.

I always wondered what the process was to get a product to market using an infomercial and now we will get to see that from behind the scenes.  This is such a great idea and I'm surprised no one had thought of this before but I am glad that Billy Mays decided to sign on because he is the first person you think of these days when you hear the word infomercial.  Anthony Sullivan is no slouch himself and I'm sure you have seen him in the Swivel Sweeper ads that have been running for the past few years.

They are a great pairing as Billy Mays is loud and in your face while Anthony Sullivan comes across as sophisticated an informative (it must be the foreign accent).  They compliment each other nicely.  I am seriously looking forward to this show and I will definitely be recording the entire season on my DVR.  I am sure you will be hearing more about "PitchMen" from me once it airs on the Discovery Channel starting April 15th.  SWEET!!!

Pitchmen's Discovery Channel Site

I always felt like the new school infomercial dude Vince Offer (better known as Vince the ShamWow Guy) was a little bit sketchy but beating up a hooker is not something I saw happening so early in his career.  It's one thing to turn to the dark side when all of the infomercial gigs have dried up but doing all of this shady shit at the peak of your career?  That's just DUMB. 

I guess I could have seen this coming though. There is just something a little bit off about this guy.   I never trusted him and his weak ass products like I trust the one and only Billy Mays.  The ShamWow is actually just a rip off of the Zorbeez towel too.  This guy can't even get his own products!  Not cool, man.  Not cool: 

Not only did he copy Billy Mays and the Zorbeez almost line for line at times but he's also a little too pushy and arrogant for my liking.  I bet he got beat up as a kid because he was such a tool:
 
Take a look at that mug shot again.  DAMN!!!  He looks like he's been awake for 3 straight weeks on a coke, meth and heroin binge. Actually, he kind of looks like some of the Southie locals I see at the corner liquor store buying booze and 25 different scratch tickets. He barely resembles that youthful clown with a spiky fohawk in the ShamWow infomercial.

He was probably celebrating the recent success of the simple but effective kitchen tool, the Slap Chop.  What better way is there to celebrate a successful product launch that with a hooker!?!?!  Yikes. 

By the way, have you seen the infomercial for the Slap Chop yet?  It is classic material.  I think he is now bringing a new definition to the "You're gonna love my nuts!" line.  Awesome!