Billy Mays' Internet Legacy

Posted on June 29, 2009 - 1:45pm by Contributing Co... As you are no doubt aware, legendary TV pitchman Billy Mays died this weekend, making that four celebrities who have kicked the bucket since June 23, 2009.  It's been a pretty rough week for Hollywood, make no mistake, but the Internet is likely to mourn for Billy Mays, who became famous for being one of the most iconic pitchmen ever to grace late-night infomercials and daytime TV.

[caption id="attachment_42017" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I can't explain it, but I absolutely MUST by Oxiclean, now."][/caption]

On the internet, Mays became one of the many overused jokes that gets shared on places like Digg and Twitter for his near-constant shouting while advertising a product, and for his magnificent beard.  Even Vince, the Sham-Wow guy, can't hope to achieve that sort of fame any time soon.

[caption id="attachment_42016" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="That means YOU, VINCE!"][/caption]

Does this mean that people are going to stop putting captions onto photos of Billy Mays?  Is it possible that funny pictures of Billy Mays shouting about the amazing abilities of Mighty Putty will no longer be circulated?

[caption id="attachment_42019" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="It is screaming at me."][/caption]

Not likely.  He was possessed of a strange charisma that forced every nerd with Photoshop and an internet connexion to somehow turn him into their new figurehead.  It might have been the shouting, or the enthusiasm he displayed at getting stains out of your shirt (I prefer to think it was his kick-awesome beard).  It is hard to track how these things happen.  Like with cats.  Someone took a funny picture, gave it a funny caption, and it just made the rounds.  Why he became so popular on the internet, nobody knows, but he will sorely be missed by the Internet, to be sure.

[caption id="attachment_42020" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Even the map of the Internet is crying. Wuss."][/caption]