WHEN COS TALKS . . .
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Bill Cosby’s putting his money where his mouth is: Ad Age said Cos is letting E.F. Hutton invest the money they’re paying him--believed to be about $3 million--for his 10 Hutton TV spots, print ads and 14 Hutton-sponsored performances.
He apparently has helped untarnish the image of the investment house, which pleaded guilty last year to 2,000 counts of fraud stemming from a check overdraft scheme. He’ll shoot several new commercials, still pushing the line, “E.F. Hutton--because it’s my money.”
Said Hutton exec William Clayton, who helped conceive the commercials, more than 65 million World Series viewers saw the latest spots: “We’re spending about $20 million on the 1986 national ad campaign and Cosby has a long-term contract. He’s highly credible--a morale booster.”
Speaking of morale boosting, the Cos is doing OK with a 50% interest in “The Cosby Show,” since Viacom estimates syndication sales to reach--gulp--$500 million.
Already WOR-TV in NYC has paid more than $22.7 million for rerun rights--$182,000 per episode for 182 episodes, say published reports. “Cheers” held the record at a paltry $85,000 per showing.
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