Althouse: The End.

June 30, 2009

The End.

Billy Mays, RIP.

20 comments:

Methadras said...: You know, for years I prayed (facetiously) for this man's death. He's was just one annoying SOB. Yelling at me through the TV about how great the schlocky product he was hawking was and just looking like a general used car salesman douche. I think there were even websites dedicated to chastising his on-air persona.

Then I started watching Pitchmen that featured Billy Mays and his partner Sully (forgot his last name) and I actually like it and Billy Mays sort of endeared himself on the show. He was just an ordinary guy doing his job something he ended up finding he had a talent for, but because of the medium of television and his style of promotion, that's how it became his trademark. It was fascinating to watch.

Now I feel guilty at having at one time prayed (facetiously) for his demise and my heart goes out to his wife and kids. He was a really generous and nice guy and basically was the sole reason for direct TV sales to be where they are today. Almost a $500 billion dollar market, that's just huge.; 6/30/09, 11:19 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: He imagined how Bob Vila would sound if there had never been a PBS and ran with it.

Sabio.; 6/30/09, 11:27 AM
SteveR said...: Like many folks I did not like the commercials, especially how often they were on. But they obviously worked. So I give him credit. Seems like he was a good guy and left behind a family, so that's enough for me, good for ya Billy.; 6/30/09, 11:52 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I will make a rotten remark. Can all these celeb deaths be a secret plan by Obama to create new jobs? Yes, I know I am going to hell.; 6/30/09, 12:21 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: I had no idea who this guy was, and I don't understand why any of you do. Did you lose the remote or something?; 6/30/09, 12:54 PM
Ralph L said...: Someone put arsenic in his shoe polish.; 6/30/09, 1:30 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: The day before he died I mentioned in my daily mass email (mass=20) that my impulse was to punch him in the face. In all honesty all I wanted was for him to shut up. But I've learned, in some extreme cases, death is what it takes. I feel not a trace of guilt about the coincidence. He was pure annoyance and why any business would hire a man so obviously annoying to associate with their product I can attribute only to contempt for their customers.

It's hard to believe I animated him so long ago. I had to dig past Edwards and Hunter to find it.

I am slightly bothered by my own antipathy, but the man did make his mark by yelling directly and purposefully at me, which required constant remote action on the same level as Obama.

So that's one down.

Whether or not Vince Offer shuts up is less urgent. Either way, his mug shot on TheSmokingGun is how he is to be remembered.; 6/30/09, 1:37 PM
mariner said...: He is the second well-known person this year to die after an untreated head injury (well, Natasha Richardson's head injury was *initially* untreated, and the delay cost her her life.)

I take periodic shipboard medical training, and one of the things emphasized in that course is to take head trauma seriously.; 6/30/09, 1:48 PM
jayne_cobb said...: I'll miss him more than Michael Jackson.; 6/30/09, 2:16 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Norm Coleman is looking for work. Maybe he can start hawking Orange-Glo and teeth whiteners.; 6/30/09, 2:34 PM
Ralph L said...: Jayne, do you mean more than "not at all", or are you in serious need of a life?

MJ would have been a more entertaining trainwreck the last 20 years if he hadn't been so repulsive to look at.; 6/30/09, 2:40 PM
Ralph L said...: Peter, you can't expect a politician to make an honest living.; 6/30/09, 2:43 PM
Jennifer said...: Eh, I can't say that I liked his style. Or that I watch commercials at all, really. I do like that in his style of commercial, they're actually trying to sell you the product. Dropping the pretense of don't you want to be like this family or buy this and you'll be loved! and other bullshit "marketing to women".

I will clarify that to say that I'm ok with his style of commercial UNLESS THE SHAM WOW GUY IS DOING IT. That guy is creepy.; 6/30/09, 3:09 PM
jayne_cobb said...: Ralph,

The former.

I was never a particularly big music fan and, as a general rule, I avoid tabloid/entertainment media.; 6/30/09, 3:47 PM
Kansas City said...: I love Ann, but found this post mildly offensive. The guy just died. Why make a joke about him falling in the tub?; 6/30/09, 3:59 PM
Cedarford said...: I consider deliberately obnoxious pitchmen a form of pollution. And the less of them, the better.

Smilin' Jack said...
I had no idea who this guy was, and I don't understand why any of you do. Did you lose the remote or something?

It's sort of a dumb, reflexive response given all the time, Jack.

You don't like Janet Jackson's tit flopping out in the Superbowl, change the channel....
It's what is called in Media as the Ambush.

If you notice, the infomercial/pitchmen ads count on getting the product name, pitchman name out in the 1st 3-5 seconds - the time it takes the typical viewer to locate and use the remote. At the same time, media firms admit they try to saturate the same period commercial time block with the same pitch ad on multiple channels so even if you shift, it's still All Billy Mays, All the Time...

It's the usual dumb refrain we hear about other forms of pollution that assail the citizen from their defenders....You don't like 60 billboards or 7 graveside memorials in 10 miles of road - don't look. Young thugs waiting for the train have the same right of speech as the 380 people in earshot of them loudly swearing. Just-Don't-Listen! And in the heyday of telemarketing, moneyed defenders of it told us that if you don't like it, just hang up the phone.

Bottom line, Billy Mays was a form of unwanted pollution. He's gone? That is a collective good thing.

Sorry for his family and all, just as I am for the hard-working, family men drug tunnel diggers in Mexico when their great product of toil and sweat is located and destroyed and they don't get paid by the drug lords..

But that is a collective good thing.

================
The Sham-Wow guy? The "observant Jew again" renegade Scientologist, Israeli-American -"Offer(aka Vince) Shlomi? He was involved in a 1000-buck-a-pop prostitute beating of a comely meth-head who he said bit his tongue and wouldn't let go during their tryst.

He is in my prayers...

=================; 6/30/09, 4:05 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: If you notice, the infomercial/pitchmen ads count on getting the product name, pitchman name out in the 1st 3-5 seconds - the time it takes the typical viewer to locate and use the remote.

You need to work on your reflexes, dude. No infomercial has ever lasted more than a half-second on my screen--you can recognize them in a microsecond just from the tone of voice.

they try to saturate the same period commercial time block with the same pitch ad on multiple channels so even if you shift, it's still All Billy Mays, All the Time...

Not likely--there are nearly a hundred channels even on basic cable now. And there's always PBS.; 6/30/09, 5:13 PM
kentuckyliz said...: SatTV has an onscreen programming guide that you can surf, and you can customize it to your favorite channels only. Presto, no informercials.

The local affiliate always puts up a screen first saying that the following is a paid commercial announcement, etc. You don't have to watch a single second of infomercial if you see that and are quick enough on the draw.; 6/30/09, 5:27 PM
Jeremy said...: Kansas City said..."I love Ann, but found this post mildly offensive. The guy just died. Why make a joke about him falling in the tub?"

Are you kidding?

To get her pack of fools rolling.

They love a good death, and speaking of loud-mouthed "entertainers"...keep in mind, Ann absolutely L-O-V-E-S Rush.; 6/30/09, 5:37 PM
Methadras said...: Jeremy said...

They love a good death, and speaking of loud-mouthed "entertainers"...keep in mind, Ann absolutely L-O-V-E-S Rush.

Oh my God, Gene. Someone absolutely loves someone you hate. I'm sure you love your wife, Gene, but when was the last time your stopped beating her?; 6/30/09, 6:05 PM