Billy Mays has always been one of my marketing heroes. He was such a phenomenal pitchman that he could sell anything. But he didn't. OxiClean works. Mighty Putty works. Hell, even that crazy little cellphone transmitter, the Jupiter Jack, works. I know. Angus and I each have one in our vehicles.

Billy pitched very few food items, but he did help you get your grubby little hands on the Big City Slider Station. He was also about to launch a major ad campaign with the fast food giant Taco Bell.¹

What made Billy special was that he was able to carry on the tradition of the man on the soapbox and still move merchandise that was worth what you paid for it. Having spent over twenty years in the advertising industry, I can tell you from experience that most of the time you DON'T get what you pay for. In his own words "Billy Mays doesn't sell snake oil!"²

Billy Mays - 1958-2009


Enjoy some great moments with our favorite fast-talking carnivore, Billy Mays:

Click here to watch the classic video of Billy ordering at McDonald's drive-thru in Tampa, Florida, for the MJ Morning Show (93.3 WFLZ).

Click here to watch the Big City Slider Station spot.


Sources:
1. Todd "MJ" Schnitt, MJ Morning Show (93.3 WFLZ)
2. Pitchmen, Episode 3, Discovery Channel, April 29, 2009

This weeks COTW is Chicago's own Bill Curtis. Not only is Bill a respected television journalist, producer, well-known former CBS News anchor and current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, but he also LOVES TO EAT MEAT!

Bill has jumped on the grass-fed beef wagon and recently, with the help of other investors, started a cattle ranch called "Tallgrass Beef" that specializes in grass-fed beef. A while back Bill gathered some potential investors at one of Chicago's premier steakhouses, Harry Caray's. He brought out some samples of his beef and the rest is history!

He recently said, "I started Tallgrass Beef to raise cattle the way they were meant to be raised". You got to hand it to him. He loves meat so much, he's raising his own!

Check out more about Tallgrass Beef and why Bill started it here.

This weeks famous carivore is none other than
J. Wellington Wimpy. Wimpy first appeared in Elzie Crisler Segar's classic Popeye comic strip "Thimble Theater" on May 3, 1931. He was an unnamed referee in one of Popeye's prize fights. Eventually, Wimpy was given a name and became a famous character in his own rite, particularly for his insatiable lust for hamburgers.

Wimpy achieved incredible notoriety in the 1936 Max Fleischer cartoon "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor," in which Wimpy spends almost the entire cartoon following a duck with a hand-crank meat-grinder.

His character inspired one of the first restaurant chains in the United States called "Wimpy Grill" and the famous U.K. restaurant chain "Wimpy."

His meat motto:

"I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Other choice lines:
"Let's you and him fight!"
"Come over to my house for a duck dinner. � You bring the duck."

THAT'S RIGHT... JESUS!

Jesus ate meat! Unless you want to believe our delusional friends at PETA. They claim that Jesus was a vegetarian and they use this as a basis for several of their beliefs. Well it's obvious that the folks at PETA have never heard of a little book called THE BIBLE!

It is mentioned in the bible SEVERAL times that Jesus did in fact eat meat. The New Testament mentions that Jesus did eat the Passover feast, which would include the eating of a roasted lamb (Luke 22:14-15). In fact, before the last Passover meal, Jesus specifically instructs his disciples to prepare the meal, including the lamb:

"Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus sent Peter and John,saying,"Go
and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it."(Luke 22:7-8)

There are also several places in the Bible that mention Jesus eating fish. Last time I checked, fish have faces and are considered animals! What do you have to say to that PETA? HMMMMMMMM...?

His meat motto:

"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant."(Genesis 9:3)

There is a very cool article that goes into much more detail regarding Jesus' support of all things meat at:

http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/ ... icles/DidJesusEatMeat.htm

Ron White - Fritch, Texas

Not only is Ron one of the funniest comics around, but he is an avid meat eater. He also shares our dislike for all things "vegetarian". In one of his recent stand-up routines he commented on a friend of his that had recently converted. Ron said, "Have you ever seen a healthy looking vegetarian? They look like SHIT! They're all gaunt and yellow. After a while, their bodies become intolerant of other things. I'll give you an example. I was out to lunch with a comedian friend of mine, and later in the day he said and I quote, 'I feel nauseous and I have a headache. That soup I had must have had beef broth in it.'...Your system's kickin' back... broth? You're a manly man, aren't you?"

His meat motto:

"I didn't climb to the top of the fuckin' food chain
to eat carrots!"