Billy Mays Here, For… (Please Insert Product Here)

On July 20, 1958, the proud parents of William D. Mays undoubtedly had no idea that their new born baby boy would grow up to scream his way into more living rooms than any other man in television history. But that he did. And whether you find his particular style of direct sales pitch vaguely amusing or utterly annoying, you cannot deny that Billy Mays has become one of the most recognizable faces on TV.

Mays began his carrier in the late 70’s as a pitchman for Washmatik (a portable washing devise) to passersby on the Atlantic City Board Walk. Surrounded by older and more seasoned Pitchmen, Billy observed the “pros” at work until he developed his own, unique style. Billy then spent the next twelve years traveling across the country to home shows, trade shows and state fairs selling everything from cleaning products to food choppers.

After twelve years of living out of suite cases and sleeping in hotels, luck smiled on Billy. While attending the 1993 Pittsburg Home Show, Billy made the acquaintance of Max Appel, the founder of OrangeGlo International, a cleaning products manufacture based out of Denver. Billy soon signed on as the spokesman for Oxiclean, OrangeGlo, Orange Clean and Kaboom. Whether Billy realized it or not, he had been in the right place at the right time. This one chance meeting would launch him on a path to becoming a multi-millionaire and creating an ongoing love/hate relationship with millions of Americans.

Billy’s first stab at promoting OrangeGlo products aired on the Home Shopping Network. His soon to be trademark sales technique featured “real time” demonstrations of Oxiclean’s superior cleaning power. No matter what fool gunk he poured into his clear cleaning tank, Oxiclean totally eradicated it right before the potential buyers’ eyes.

Billy’s initial reviews were mixed. Objections to his abrasive manner of shouting at the TV audience were most noted. Objections aside, his results could not be denied. The Home Shopping Network experienced a dramatic increase in sales after his very first network début.

Billy’s success on the Home Shopping Network was just the beginning. From there, he pitched 30 minute infomercials for late night TV. The phenomenal sales of OrangeGlo products late night infomercials soon sparked two and five minute pitch versions for day time TV. The two minute spots even managed to migrate to Prime Time TV on many cable channel networks.

Billy continued to shout the amazing effectiveness of OrangeGlo products through every TV set in America until OrangeGlo was ranked one of the top ten privately owned companies from 1999 to 2001 by Inc. magazine.

Just how effective is the direct response marketing industry? Devastatingly effective! Infomercials are estimated to be a 1.5 billion dollar industry. You may have shaken your head when you first saw the Snuggie commercial. You probably even asked yourself, who in their right mind would buy something like that. $80 million sales thus far appears to answer this question.

So as we sit on precipice of a global economic meltdown, industry giants have been reduced to common beggars. Work forces are being trimmed to the bone. Retailers slash prices to the barest of profit margins vying for their piece of the ever shrinking dollar. Corporate advertising has dropped 2.6 percent from last year. But amidst this ever increasing fear of a complete global meltdown, direct response advertising is up 9.2%.

And why is this? Because pitchmen like Billy Mays flat out know how to get you to open your wallet. You may think the likes of Billy Mays, loud, crass or even down right unprofessional, but one fact remains. Infomercials move products. And the bearded pitchman is the undisputed king of the infomercial industry.

Like him or not, if you own a TV, you have found yourself face to screen with the bearded man screaming, “Billy Mays here, for …”

And you probably have at least one of the cleaning products he introduced into the American vernacular in a cabinet somewhere in your home. KABOOM!