I’ve been a big fan of pitchman Billy Mays’ schtick for a long time. I like that he doesn’t make any bones about it: he was trying to sell you something. His old school ads contrast sharply with the more muted “lifestyle” commercials, such as the car ads where you feel like you’re on a safari instead of being told why a car is worth buying. His pitch-perfect pitches also were unusually sophisticated if you listened closely, using emotionally evocative words and parallel construction to stress the benefits of his products. And his delivery was slightly ethnic and regional and very masculine compared to the more anodyne tones of TV News or more traditional commercials. To me, this increased his credibility and it shows: Billy Mays single-handedly propelled products like Orange Glo and Oxy Clean to success.
He lived down the road in Tampa and was a regular guy who made it where he was through the power of his own voice and his gift for pitching products. He’ll be missed.
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Have to say- I enjoyed watching the guy sell also. I know a few people that were thrown into fits every time he came on, though I don’t understand why. I’ll also confess that he convinced me to buy the “Awesome Auger” and it is a great tool for the flower beds. RIP.
The Shamwow pitchman is pretty good, too.
I never bought anything that he pitched, but I enjoyed his ads for the same reason you did. Straightforward, throwback white guy (with a beard!) selling products based on their merits rather than some contrived image.