Billy Mays
About
Billy Mays was an American television personality and pitchman known for his work in advertisements and infomercials. Due to his loud and impassioned pitches, he became synonymous with talking in caps lock on places like 4chan. Mays has also been the subject of both tribute and parody videos, as well as a profane copypasta.
Online History
Billy Mays maintained a Twitter[1] account which his son Billy Mays III continued to run throughout September 2009. His son continues to tweet on his personal account[2] and he also maintains a single topic blog called Where's Billy Mays?[3], collecting the most interesting photos he finds relating to his late father. Mays III will also send stickers with his father's likeness to anyone who sends him a self-addressed stamped envelope.[30]
While he did not have an official Facebook page, there are several fan-made pages[4] about the pitchman including "I miss Billy Mays yelling at me to buy things :("[5] with over 425,000 likes, "RIP Billy Mays (We Will Miss Your Infomercials)"[6] with over 212,000 likes, and "IT'S NOT CALLED CAPS-LOCK, IT'S CALLED BILLY MAYS MODE!"[7] with over 74,000 likes, all as of April 2012. There is also an advice animal style Meme Generator[8] page for Mays with a little over 200 submissions and a TV Tropes[21] page on Mays, chronicling his demeanor and catchphrases. At the height of Mays' popularity, there were at least four active fan websites about him and his life including BillyMays.net[31], Billy Mays Facts[32], Billy Mays Here[33] and Billy Mays Rules[34], with the latter two websites now defunct.
Reputation
On 4chan
Billy Mays has been a popular topic of conversation on 4chan since as early as June 2007.[27] Most of these posts reference his catchphrases "Billy Mays here"[28] and "But wait! There's more!"[29] As of April 2012, there are over 800 threads on chanarchive[26] referencing Mays.
Copypasta
Akin to the George Zimmer copypasta, a profane rant meant to be read in Billy Mays' voice appeared on 4chan as early as February 19th, 2008. Throughout the year, the copypasta appeared on various other forums including General Mayhem[22], the World of Warcraft forums[23], eBaum’s World[24], and the computer forum AnandTech.[25]
HI, BILLY MAYS HERE WITH KABOOM. DO YOU HAVE LOTS OF DIRTY SHIT IN YOUR HOUSE THAT NEEDS ALL CLEANED UP? THEN BUY SOME OF THIS GODDAMN KABOOM. THIS SHIT COULD CLEAN THE WARTS OFF YOUR SISTER'S VAGINA. YOU CAN PUT SOME KABOOM ON YOUR DICK, AND IT'LL GROW THREE INCHES. F--K.
IN A FEW MINUTES, THERE WILL BE A GODDAMN NUMBER ON YOUR SCREEN. CALL THAT SHIT AND BUY SIX JUGS OF THIS F--KING KABOOM AND WE'LL THROW IN A SAMURAI SHARK AND SOME GODDAMN ZORBEEZ. WHAT ARE ZORBEEZ? YOU BEST BE JOKING, N****R. THOSE F--KING TOWELS CAN SOAK UP LIKE A GALLON APIECE. YOU'LL PROBABLY NEED THEM AFTER YOU SHARPEN YOUR F--KING SCISSORS WITH THE SAMURAI SHARK. BECAUSE YOU'LL SIMULTANEOUSLY SHIT, PISS, AND EJACULATE IN YOUR PANTS. HOW DO YOU PISS AND EJACULATE AT THE SAME TIME? F--K YOU, THAT'S HOW. CALL ME NOW AND I'LL STOP YELLING. NEVERMIND, I CAN'T STOP SO F--K YOU. I'M GONNA GO JACK OFF WITH SOME ORANGE-GLO SO PEACE OUT N****S.
SO CALL 1-800-781-7529 NOW AND TELL THEM BILLY MAYS SENT YOU
THAT NUMBER AGAIN IS 1-800-781-7529
THATS ONE EIGHT ZERO ZERO SEVEN EIGHT ONE SEVEN FIVE TWO NINE
CALL NAO!
Notable Images
![BILLY MAYS INFOMERCIAL BFM-000 [WARRIOR / EFFECT ] When this card comes into play, say Hi, I'm Billy Mays! then sell as much OxiClean and Orange Glo as you can. This card's attack and defence become the amount olf money you get from this effect 63166365 01337 BILLYF. INGMAYS](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/masonry/000/004/176/BillyMays_here.jpg "Billy Mays Yu Gi Oh Card")
Notable Videos
Personal Life
Willam "Billy" Mays Jr. (July 20th, 1958 – June 28th, 2009) was born in Mckees Rocks, Pennsylvania and moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, at 25 where he began selling products seen in infomercials on the boardwalk. He learned the art of selling these items from older pitchmen[9], picking up their forceful yet charismatic style which he proceeded to take on the road for 12 years across the United States. His first commercials for the Orange Glo company began appearing in 1999; promoting housecleaning products including OxiClean, Kaboom, and Orange Clean. Over the following decade, Mays' enthusiastic pitches became sought after[10] and in April 2009, he began filming a reality television show titled Pitchmen[11] about the experience.
Billy Mays passed away on June 28th, 2009 at the age of 50[12], just hours after he had a rough landing after a flight into Tampa.[14] An autopsy found that his death was caused by heart disease that may have developed from cocaine use.[13] Digg[15] declared the day to be ALL CAPS DAY[16] in honor of Mays' memory. Buzzfeed[17], the Kingdom of Loathing forums[18] and Reddit[19] posted threads about the event. It was also added to Urban Dictionary.[20]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Twitter – @realbillymays
[2] Twitter – @youngbillymays
[3] Where's Billy Mays? – Home
[4] Facebook – Page search results for "Billy Mays"
[5] Facebook – I miss Billy Mays yelling at me to buy things :(
[6] Facebook – RIP Billy Mays (We Will Miss Your Infomercials)
[7] Facebook – IT'S NOT CALLED CAPS-LOCK, IT'S CALLED BILLY MAYS MODE!
[8] Meme Generator – Billy Mays
[9] Fox News (via Wayback Machine) – RAW DATA: Billy Mays Biography
[10] Washington Post – Shill Game
[11] Discovery Channel (via Wayback Machine) – Pitchmen
[12] CNN – Billy Mays, OxiClean pitchman, found dead
[13] CNN – Autopsy: Cocaine a factor in Billy Mays' death
[14] Daily News (via Wayback Machine) – TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead in Florida home
[15] Digg – JUNE 28 IS ALL CAPS DAY
[17] Buzzfed – BILLY MAYS MEMORIAL CAPS LOCK DAY 6.28</>a
[18] Forums of Loathing – ALL CAPS DAY (IN MEMORIAM BILLY MAYS)
[19] Reddit – IN HONOR OF THE LATE BILLY MAYS, TODAY, JUNE 28TH IS TYPE-IN-ALL-CAPS DAY!
[20] Urban Dictionary – ALL CAPS DAY
[21] TV Tropes – Billy Mays
[22] GenMay – 'HI, BILLY MAYS HERE'
[23] WoW Forum – Hi Billy Mays here
[24] eBaum's World – Hi, Billy Mays Here With Kaboom
[25] AnandTech – Is 4chan coming back up??
[26] Search results for "Billy Mays" on chanarchive.com
[27] Chanarchive – HI /B/, BILLY MAYS HERE FOR OXI-CLEAN.
[28] Chanarchive – HI I'M BILLY MAYS AND I'M HERE TO SHOUT ABOUT THIS PRODUCT!
[29] Chanarchive – Use of "But Wait! There's more!"
[30] Where's Billy Mays? – Stickers
[31] BillyMays.net (via Wayback Machine) – Hi, Billy Mays Here!
[32] BillyMaysFacts.com (via Wayback Machine) – Billy Mays Facts
[33] BillyMaysHere.com – Billy Mays Here (defunct)
[34] BillyMaysRules.com – Billy Mays Rules (defunct)
![[Mini YTP] Billy Mays with Some Covid-19 Filler](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K7z1HmrqVwg/hqdefault.jpg "[Mini YTP] Billy Mays with Some Covid-19 Filler")
![[YTP] Silly Mayz Wrapz Himzelf in an Abzorbant Towel](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S9EhRddWEHI/hqdefault.jpg "[YTP] Silly Mayz Wrapz Himzelf in an Abzorbant Towel")
Top Comments
fbbviv
Jun 28, 2012 at 03:35PM EDT
Natsuru Springfield Moderator
Jun 28, 2012 at 08:16PM EDT