William “Billy” Mays passed away today at the youthful age of 50. Following a week of heartache in the celebrity world, losing Billy (who’s star was indeed climbing) sent reverberations through the web on an otherwise peaceful and sunny Sunday morning.
Mays had geek cred. As the star of some of the most famous recent infomercials, each time I saw him on TV I stopped channel-surfing and watched him explain whatever product he was flipping. He made watching infomercials as fun and entertaining as possible, and seemed to truly enjoy his work. Even though there were parodies and jokes, Mays took it all in stride, often joining in on the fun.
Perhaps that is what made Mays so likable among the geek and gaming community. Even though he didn’t directly engage in video games, his effect on the surrounding culture was well-documented. His beard was iconic, spawning countless Kevin Pereira skits on G4 TV. His rivalry with “Vince”, Sham-Wow’s pitch man, inspired a Gary’s Mod PC game fight and even a Halo mod.
Recently, it was noted (quite possibly as an April Fool’s joke) that Mays had signed on to be the spokesman for The Sims3 for EA. If EA acknowledges you even in passing, you’ve hit the big time in the gaming industry.
You’ve got to respect a man who was able to appear on so many geek-chic internet memes over the past few years, as evidenced by the amount of Tweets I received today for some of his greatest videos and appearances. We were all fans of Billy Mays. As I posted about his passing on my Twitter and Facebook accounts I received several replies from people who I hadn’t spoken to in ages, all adding in some memory about a commercial or appearance they had seen.
Billy, you did a fantastic job of keeping me awake at night when I should have been playing Red Faction2 and reviewing Punch-Out Wii.
“Billy Mays Here”… and forever.
RIP.
[Graphic Image by Vonster]
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