The Dead May Not Tell Tales but They Do Make Pitches

Advertisers are finding that the dead can boost sales.

The use of the deceased celebrities to hawk products is on the rise, as any glance through a magazine or quick look at television will attest.

There’s the late actor James Dean appearing in ads for sneakers, baseball legend Babe Ruth selling electronics, Albert Einstein pushing cameras. Other faces from the past are showing up in advertisements for greeting cards, banks and computers.

“Everyone wants to associate their product with a winner or a legend,” said Beth Vahle, vice president of the Curtis Management Group of Indianapolis, which represents about 50 celebrities, living and dead.

After using Ruth a year ago for a limited advertising campaign, Zenith Electronics Corp. reported that the promotion “generated thousands of sales leads.” The ad featured Ruth at bat, with the slogan: “Sometimes a Major Player Can Change the Whole Game.”

“We were looking for a symbol of what our customers would consider a major player,” said John Taylor, a Zenith spokesman. “Certainly, Babe Ruth was a major player and a real recognized image.”

Athletic shoemaker Converse Inc. decided to use Dean after the company discovered a poster of Dean, shod in a pair of its Jack Purcells, relaxing on the set of “Giant.” Converse negotiated with the agency representing Dean’s estate and the photographer who took the picture to use it in advertising.

Michael S. George, marketing manager for the Interco Inc. subsidiary, would say only that the company paid “thousands of dollars” to use the moody, black-and-white photo.

It paid off. George said sales of the Jack Purcells model rose 30% to 50% in both 1987 and 1988, “and that’s partially attributable to the advertising.”

“The image projected in the photograph is very hip and nostalgic,” George said.

The practice of using yesterday’s celebrities to hawk today’s products “has grown tremendously,” said Roger Richman, president of the Roger Richman Agency of Beverly Hills, which represents nearly 40 personalities.

Richman’s agency handles the licensing of Sigmund Freud, W. C. Fields, Marilyn Monroe and Einstein.

Richman would not discuss revenue, but he said his agency receives about 35% of the royalties generated by such ads.

In addition to the popularity of the late greats, there are practical advantages to advertisers using dead celebrities.

Cost is one, since living personalities usually cost more to use in an ad than an estate would charge, Vahle said.

Another benefit is concern about reputation. An advertiser using a dead celebrity to pitch products doesn’t have to worry about the star tarnishing his name through a messy divorce or drug arrest, for example.

But at the same time the management agencies are promoting the use of dead celebrities, they must spend time tracking down unauthorized appearances from beyond the grave.

Both Curtis Management and the Richman Agency have gone to court seeking either to halt unauthorized use of an image or to demand royalties for the families or estates involved.

Heirs and representatives of celebrities say they should be paid a royalty and have some control over how the departed are portrayed. Vahle and others argue that a persona should be considered property that can be inherited.

In New York, State Sen. Emanuel R. Gold proposed a bill that would do just that by making the likeness of a dead person a property right that can be inherited. The bill was killed last week, however.

Fewer than a dozen states have laws to protect the rights of dead celebrities, and in other states judges have established some rights through their decisions, said Mark Roesler, Curtis’ president.