A popular urban legend is that celebrity deaths always come in three’s. Not sure if that is really true or just a myth, but three true celebrities died in just the past few weeks, and also one marketing legend.

It’s interesting to me that these four individuals were marketing and media icons of the first order.

Of course, the three celebrities are Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop," Farah Fawcett (no longer Majors) and Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick to Johnny Carson. The fourth person, the true marketer of the group, is Billy Mays, one of the most famous pitchmen ever to haunt the TV screen.

All of these famous (and sometimes, infamous) people were, in their own ways, marketing and media icons.

• Michael Jackson — Not much more can be said about him, other than the fact that he was (and now is again in his premature death) a true force of nature in media…and marketing, too. Michael Jackson in many ways defined the modern multi-media entertainment figure. He also had a brief but highly visible career in advertising, with some famous Pepsi ads. But, his position as a marketing icon goes well beyond his direct work in the business. His cultural impact had a huge influence on all aspects of marketing, particulalry the central role of celebrity and music in the marketing business. I really can’t see anyone matching his impact in the future.
• Farah Fawcett – For a kid growing up in the 70s (like I did), Farah Fawcett was a cultural and sexual touchstone (kind of like "Laugh In" was for comedy). She was the sex symbol of her time and every girl wanted to look like her (especially her hair), and every guy wanted to be with her. Compared to our current electronically interconnected world where someone can be famous for 15 seconds on the web for a homemade video placed on YouTube, Farah Fawcett was a global celebrity in a time of three major TV networks and a handful of media and newspapers ruling the media landscape. She was ever-present in all of those media, and everyone knew her and in some way admired her. Like with Jackson, it is doubtful that in today’s fragmented media environment, we will ever see the likes of a phenomenon like Farah Fawcett. Of course, Farah’s looks, presence and hair also had a major impact on the marketing business, as all cultural phenomena do.
• Ed McMahon — The ubiquitous sidekick to Johnny Carson was also an important part of our culture. In addition to being a great foil to Carson (with his wonderful bellowing laugh and genial nature), McMahon was a true marketing pitchman (like Billy Mays, but with more class). McMahon hawked cheesy products on the Carson show and elsewhere, but he was also a spokesman for some legitimate brands, too. Perhaps he is most famous for his longtime partnership wth the Publishers’ Clearing House. To this day, I am still not entirely sure what PCH actually does.
• Billy Mays – The "purest" marketer of the group, the late Billy Mays, was a modern day carnival barker. He brought his fast talking, booming voice pitches to our living rooms, hawking a slew of obscure and seemingly cheap products (The Big City Sliders!). You wanted to hate the hirstute pitchman with the faintly porn industry look and shoeblack hair, but you really couldn’t. He created excitement about his cheap products and got you to be intrigued by their fabulous and questionable performance and attributes. Vince the Shamwow Guy was a pretender to Billy May’s throne, but he was never really in Mays’ league as a pitchman extraordinaire. And then Vince got busted for beating up a hooker (the Internet photos of Vince and his lady friend are pretty gruesome and classic!). Billy Mays was a marketing institution. In ad circles his work had the auteur quality of certain Patrick Swayze movies — earnest, unintentionally funny and so bad they are good.

All in their own unique ways, these four marketing and media icons changed our lives and made us laugh, smile and always take notice. They will be missed.

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