Product pitchman Mays remembered as natural seller

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. (AP) — References to television pitchman Bill Mays’ trademark image were everywhere at his funeral Friday near Pittsburgh.

Most mourners wore stickers showing a cartoon image of his distinctive bearded face. The six pallbearers eschewed suits and instead wore bright-blue button-down shirts like the ones Mays wore on TV. At the conclusion of the ceremony, they gave a “thumbs up,” just as Mays did at the end of one of his commercials.

Mays, whose high-energy hawking turned products such as OxiClean from infomercial curiosities into mainstream successes, was remembered as a pop-culture icon who never forgot his hometown or spiritual roots.

“He sold more OxiClean than Andy Warhol sold Campbell’s Soup,” cousin Dean Panizzi said in eulogizing Mays and comparing him with the Pittsburgh-born pop artist who turned soup cans into works of art.

Panizzi’s 20-minute eulogy evoked everything from memories of their childhood together — complete with a Christmas Eve remembrance of their parents ringing sleigh bells outside — to Mays’ devout Christian faith. Panizzi recited various lines Mays made famous, including “Life’s a pitch, and then you buy” and drew a standing ovation parroting Mays’ signature introduction, “Hi, Billy Mays here.”

Hundreds of mourners packed the gothic Catholic church in the suburb of McKees Rocks, where Mays was raised, to remember the popular pitchman. Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other “As Seen on TV” gadgets on Atlantic City’s boardwalk and worked for years as a hired gun on the state-fair and home-show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

Mays got his start on TV on the Home Shopping Network and then branched out into commercials and infomercials. He developed such a strong following that he became the subject of a reality TV series, Discovery Channel’s “Pitchmen.”

Outside the funeral, a company owned by fellow “Pitchmen” star Anthony Sullivan handed out the shiny stickers bearing a caricature of Mays’ face.

Mays hawked everything from the Wash-matik, a device for pumping water from a bucket to wash cars, to Orange Glo, an environmentally friendly cleaner. Sporting a jet-black beard and coupling high-energy demonstrations with booming pitches, Mays always seemed ready to jump off the screen.

Mays is believed to have died of a heart attack in his sleep Sunday at his home in Tampa, Fla.