Billy Mays Pitches From The Grave
Beloved TV hawker to sell new product called Mighty Tape
By MARK MORALES
Updated 6:45 AM PDT, Fri, Jul 10, 2009
Billy Mays, the genial, bearded TV pitchman who suffered a fatal heart attack last month, has one more product for you: Mighty Tape.
Mays, who made OxiClean, WashMatik, Tool Bandit, Orange Glow and Mighty Putty into household must-haves, will be seen selling extolling the powers of the new tape beginning July 20. His commercials for the other products have been back on the air since last week.
"Just stretch, wrap and fuse it fast," says Mays, using the adhesive tape on a kitchen drain pipe in the new commercial. Moments later, Mays is seen wearing his signature blue denim shirt and khakis, but accessorized with scuba gear, as he uses the tape to fix a hole in a diver's air hose underwater.
Mays, 50, died suddenly from complications from heart disease on June 28. Initially, some suspected his death was linked to a blow to the head suffered when luggage fell from an overhead compartment on a bumpy flight Mays took earlier that day.
The Discovery Channel plans to air a one-hour documentary, called "Pitchman: a Tribute for Billy Mays."
In the meanwhile, Mays will get airtime doing what he did best.
"Our feeling is that everyone would have wanted Billy to go on," said Bill McAlister, president of Media Enterprises, a sales and marketing company based in Trevose, Penn. "It's what he would have wanted."
First Published: Jul 10, 2009 6:14 AM PDT
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