Appel has since sold his company -- for $327 million -- to Church & Dwight. And guess who Church & Dwight then hired to produce pitchmen-style commercials for their best-known brand, the 160-year-old Arm & Hammer baking soda? Not some suits from Madison Avenue but Sully and Billy.

THIS IS WHERE THE SPORTS coat comes in. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of his shouting ads or the “that’s not all” $19.99 products he pitches, by now you undoubtedly know the Mays brand. That’s because Billy Mays can sell himself too. On Pitchmen, viewers are able to see the painstaking process Mays goes through to evaluate the products he pitches. After a decade of selling on TV, he doesn’t want to risk his reputation on some flimsy piece of plastic with a catchy name.

And now, Mays wants to parlay his personal brand into endorsements for more substantial products. An old, established, and trusted brand like Arm & Hammer is a good start, but it’s also safe. What’s riskier is his backing of iCan Benefit Group’s health insurance. Health insurance? From this loudmouthed pitchman, who, in the words of one comedian, looks like “he drew his beard on with a Sharpie”? Is it possible that people trust Mays with their personal well-being now? Evidently, yes -- a fact that sometimes surprises even Mays.

“A couple came up to me a few weeks ago, and the husband had lost his job,” Mays says. “They got insurance through iCan just before the husband was diagnosed with cancer, and they said if it wasn’t for my telling them to get insurance, they wouldn’t have been covered. It just stunned me. That’s been the most humbling experience.”