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Scoop on Billy Mays: He uses what he sells
©Associated Press PALM HARBOR -- There's no escaping Billy Mays on TV. There he is on one commercial urging you to add a scoop of OxiClean to each laundry load. Turn the channel and he's peddling a car dent fixer, or a hands-free cell phone device. On another, he's spritzing Orange Clean on a kitchen counter. The burly, bearded pitchman doesn't just tout products on the tube -- he loves his work so much that he gave bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and did his spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") right there on the dance floor. Visitors to his house get bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips. "I enjoy what I do," the Pittsburgh native said, and, chuckling at the memory of his wedding, added, "I think it shows." Mays, 44, has helped make Orange Glo International, maker of OxiClean, Kaboom and Orange Clean, one of the nation's fastest-growing companies. His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches have won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products. He recently bantered with Montel Williams and Danny Bonaduce on national TV talk shows, and was thrilled to learn that one of his commercials plays during a scene in the Angelina Jolie movie, Life or Something Like It. But he's also earned his share of detractors. In a true measure of celebrity in the modern age, whole Web sites are now dedicated to trashing him. "The mute button on my remote is getting worn out from all the times I have to deal with him invading my television," one posting says, summing up the sentiments of many visitors to a site called "Billy Mays Mayhem." "This guy has the most disgusting sales pitch on TV," says another. Surprisingly soft-spoken in conversation, Mays claims he's just recently learned of his Internet presence and hasn't looked at the sites. He seems kind of embarrassed by any attention that's not related to the products, but he's getting used to it. "I'm a sensitive guy," he said. "I don't want to be brought down, so I just leave it at that. As long as there's good and bad, it evens itself out." Mays has never been anything but a salesman, starting out of high school with his dad's waste hauling business. He developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "as seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner. After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid 1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network (where he also met his wife, Deborah). Sales took off the first day he was on. Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!" Now he's the public face of a company projected to earn $330-million this year, after taking in $245-million in 2001. Inc. magazine named Denver-based Orange Glo International one of the 10 fastest-growing privately owned companies in each of the past three years, and Appel says Mays is a big part of it. Since the company was built on the demonstration of its products at home shows and other public events, Mays was a natural for the role. "He's grateful for where he is, and he's a true performer," Appel said. "He has a real sense of modesty. He's really a joy to work with. It's very rare for guys like that." Karen Benezra, editor of the advertising trade magazine Brandweek, said it's usually difficult for cleaning products to distinguish themselves in the crowded market. Mays' commercials -- combined with consumer satisfaction with the products -- helped move Orange Glo out of the pack. "What Billy has done with his products was give them the no-nonsense, 'hey-I'm-a-regular-Joe' kind of face," Benezra said. "He just gives you the sense you can believe him." And Jon Morris, a University of Florida advertising professor and expert in how viewers respond to TV commercials, said Mays' close link to Orange Glo's success means he should keep making his TV pitches for a good long time. "He could go on forever," Morris said.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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