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It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 15 years since the passing of the man, myth, and advertising legend who was Billy Mays, but fans of the iconic pitchman are still paying tribute to him based on a photo his son captured during a recent visit to his gravesite.
Virtually anyone who watched television in the 2000s is intimately familiar with Billy Mays thanks to the infomercials where he loudly plugged OxiClean, Kaboom, and a few other cleaning products under the Orange Glo umbrella.
Mays got his big break when the company tapped him to plug its wares on the Home Shopping Network in the 1990s before eventually pivoting to the infomercials that helped make him a household name.
The beloved spokesman paved the way for ShamWow Vince, Flex Seal Guy, and the smattering of other personalities who’ve become minor celebrities by starring in ads for the kinds of products that comprise the “As Seen On TV” sections in physical retail outlets, and he apparently did very well for himself when you consider he had an estimated net worth of $10 million.
Mays was just 50 years old when he passed away in 2009 from heart disease (an autopsy detected cocaine in his system and the coroner asserted the habit likely contributed to his premature death), and hundreds of mourners attended a funeral in Pittsburgh where his pallbearers were clad in the blue shirt and khakis that comprised his unofficial uniform.
On Monday, Billy Mays III (the oldest of the two children he left behind) stopped by his dad’s grave at the Mount Calvary Cemetery and discovered someone who had previously done the same had decided to pay their respects by leaving a bottle of OxiClean spray on the marker dedicated to the “Beloved Husband, Father, and Son.”
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