'Billy Mays here!' even after death

July 10, 6:34 PMOffbeat News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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Selling stuff from beyond the grave

When you've got a pitch as good as Billy Mays, death can't still your voice.

The bearded TV commercial pitchman who died of a heart attack June 28, "returns" in a new Mighty Tape commercial, the last he recorded for Media Enterprises, a marketing company based in Trevose, PA.

In the new commercial, he's seen, underwater, in scuba gear using the ultra sticky product to repair another scuba diver's air hose.

The commercial will begin airing July 20.

Mays' commercials were temporarily pulled after his death, but his pitches for other products in the Mighty brand line returned to the air the week after July 4.

A one-hour documentary "Pitchman: A Tribute to Billy Mays" aired July 9 on the Discovery Channel as part of a 12-part series on the network called "Pitchmen."

"Our feeling is, everyone wants to have Billy go on," said Bill McAlister, president of Media Enterprises.

"This is what he would have wanted," he added.

But if he wants to cash in on Mays penchant for pushing product, he almost has to say that.

Likewise, Mays' attorney Roger Pliakas is playing cards close to his vest.

He says which of Mays' product pitches will continue to be broadcast isn't certain, but won't identify other firms Mays may have been associated with when he died.

"We don't know all the specifics. We're just hoping it's all done in a tasteful manner,"
Pliakas told the media.