Qa With Pitchman Billy Mays

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L.G.: ICanBenefit.com—is that the most expensive product you're currently pitching?

B.M.: ICanBenefit.com, it's a different type of show. It's one to two minutes—I don't know if you've seen it. Basically it's, Hi, Billy Mays here, to share with you the most important product I've ever endorsed, affordable health insurance for everyone. If you're one of the 47 million uninsured, we can help.

L.G.: I assume that you've ratcheted back to save your voice. But you don't pitch that product with any less intensity that you pitch other products, do you?

B.M.: Oh no, my voice is a little sore right now from yesterday. [Louder, more rabid] Hi, Billy Mays here to share with you the most important product I've ever endorsed! And I'll even be a couple notches up from that.

L.G.: Sign me up, man!

B.M.: [Laughs.] Health insurance is such a hot button in the election, we're signing people up every day. It's a legitimate company—you can get major med, mini med, we cater it to your needs for hospital visits, blood tests, checkups, emergency room, you can spend as little as $159 a month for you or $269 a month for your entire family. Now, if you want to get into the Blue Cross Blue Shield, that type of program, of course it's going to cost you a little bit more. But the main thing is to have some type of coverage for catastrophic and things like that. From that forum, we're going to eventually take it to auto insurance. We're going to take it basically as an association. The commercial is kind of not deceiving, but when you actually call in and get signed up for a month, the first month, you get a package that gives you roadside assistance from Allstate—identity theft, legal advice, you get so much off toward that. There's a whole array of things that we offer you in this—how to improve your credit score, counseling, consulting.

L.G.: With the Billy Mays business model, do you pretty much participate in all the products that you're pitching?

B.M.: Oh, absolutely.

L.G.: So you're really part of these companies, it's not like you're some kind of gun for hire. From what I've read, you take an up-front fee of 20 grand for doing the commercials, and then you have participation, commissions?

B.M.: Yeah, there's some certainty up front, and 20 is a number that got thrown around. I mean, more or less. But it's about the back end, it's about getting a percentage. If it came down to it, I would rather just have the percentage, because I don't do the products to get that $20,000 or whatever it may be up front. These are businesses of mine that I want to brand. I have at least 10 campaigns running in alternation right now.

L.G.: Are you in every media market in the United States?

B.M.: Every media market, yes.

L.G.: And are you also beyond the United States?

B.M.: Worldwide, I speak 57 languages.

L.G.: Oh, you do not!

B.M.: Yeah, they dub it in. 

L.G.: So do they have some guy in Japanese screaming? Have you heard those commercials? Do they capture your spirit?
 
B.M.: Some of them do. They're getting better. A lot of the Spanish and Mexican markets, I'm really strong in. I was just in the Chicago airport the other day, and a guy sitting next to me, he says "I can't get away from you, you are the biggest celebrity in Spain. Your Orange Glo commercial runs every 10 to 15 minutes on every other channel."
 
L.G.: Do you speak any foreign languages yourself?
 
B.M.: Hablo español poquito. No. I did a couple of spots with Simonizer where they let me do part of it, writing out the dialect of it so that I can actually pronounce it, "Oy me, I'm Billy Mays," then I'd say something, then we have a voiceover coming in, then I got "solamente veinte dolares" at the end—and that goes a long way to the Spanish and Mexican market. You know, butcher their language a little bit—they respect it. I started in the state fair's home shows, flea markets in L.A. I started on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. I used to sell a salsa maker in places in L.A. when I was out there, and nobody spoke English. I just would make salsa and sell it: tomate, pimiento, chile rojo, ajo and the garlic, limón and sal, pico de gallo, and then I'd make it. Eat! Eat! Then get it on TV. Boom! Solamente veinte dolares! And they just take money all day long. Someone in the crowd always spoke some type of English, but I would be the heart of it.
 
L.G.: What makes a good pitchman?
 
B.M.: I've been doing this on TV almost 11 years and I've never changed. I think it's the consistency. You've got to stay true to what you do, you've got to really be humble and you've got to believe in the products you sell, you really do. Product is king, product is king. I turn down more products than you can imagine, I don't even look at them.
 

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