Billy Mays, Dead at 50
Published June 28, 2009 @ 14:40 in Celebrity Death Watch
Billy Mays was 50. He was the burly, bearded television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean.
When I read that Billy Mays had passed away, I asked myself a simple question. Who's Billy Mays? I hit up YouTube and didn't recognize his face or voice at all. Furthermore, I had never heard of Orange Glo or OxiClean. I figured if I had never heard of Billy Mays, he was most likely too minor a celebrity to warrant an entry.
I tweeted that I hadn't heard of Billy Mays and quickly got this reply from @SimonOstler, Assignment Editor & Producer at Global Edmonton.
@torontomike you've never come home late, sat down on the couch surfed through channels and seen Billy Mays. He is the MJ of infomercials.
I figured the MJ of infomercials was worthy of an entry, even if I had never heard of him. Further validation was this very recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, an episode I've PVR'd but not yet seen.
Down Goes Brown
June 28, 2009 / 15:33
I didn't know who he was either. But we must be in the minority, since CNN apparently felt it was worth sending an e-mail alert about him.