Death of a Spokesperson : Most Advertisers Immediately Yank a Commercial If the Star Dies--but There Are Exceptions
At 93, Herman Finberg unexpectedly found a new career. He was cast as the star of a Pepsi commercial that promised to bring him fame--and maybe a little fortune.
After each day of filming, the Los Angeles resident--who made a living selling promotional trinkets--would faithfully phone his daughter in Northern California and tell her the latest news. He bragged about the limousine rides to the shoots. He joked about how the makeup crew powdered his bald head. And he told his daughter how excited he was for her to see the ad.
But when Cecelia Burgess-Gelles turned on the Super Bowl two Sundays ago, she did so with a stone in her heart. There was her father, all right, frolicking at the beach with a can of Pepsi in hand and several bikini-clad women at his side. The 133 million viewers must have snickered at the old guy wearing a T-shirt that said “Eat. Surf. Die.” But his daughter had to wipe away the tears. Just 10 days before the ad aired, Finberg did indeed die.
Even Madison Avenue--for all its feel-good imagery--isn’t immune to the stark reality of death. Few situations, shy of an outright product recall, can cause an advertiser to immediately yank an ad. And while Pepsi has stuck with this ad--because, it says, Finberg is not a celebrity--the death of a well-known actor usually means the death of a TV spot.
“If an actor dies, you take the ad off the air,” said Renee Fraser, a Los Angeles ad executive and psychologist. “Why would anyone want to make an association between grieving, death and their product?”
The purpose of most advertising, after all, is to make people feel so great about a product--and themselves--that they buy it. That is why advertisers like to stay upbeat in their ads--and usually drop any campaign that is even remotely tinged by death.
Several years ago, Mel Blanc was edited out of an Oldsmobile spot shortly after he died. Great Western Bank ads starring John Wayne were pulled after the legendary actor died. Spots for Yellow Pages publisher US West Direct, featuring chef and cookbook author James Beard, stopped airing after his death.
Although Nestle denies any connection, it dumped Earvin (Magic) Johnson as a spokesman shortly after Johnson revealed that he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Experts say even fictional characters--such as Superman--can lose marketing clout after they are killed off.
But advertising executives say the decision isn’t always so simple. Especially when the family of the star gets involved.
The Pepsi ad “almost made my father seem to be alive again,” said Burgess-Gelles. “I know he would have been devastated if the ad was pulled.”
Pepsi, which spent more than $500,000 to make the ad, has no plans to yank it.
“When you are dealing with life-and-death situations, there are no cookie-cutter answers,” said spokesman Andrew Giangola. Pepsi and its ad agency, BBDO Worldwide, didn’t know that Finberg had died until several days after the ad first aired. But Giangola said Pepsi will stick with the ad because the family wants it that way--and because Finberg is not a well-known figure.
Oldsmobile, however, took a different road several years ago before airing a TV spot that was to star Noel Blanc and his father, Mel--the voice of numerous cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny.
At the time, Oldsmobile was using the slogan “It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile” and pairing famous fathers with their children. One ad featured Mel and Noel. At the end of the ad, the elder Blanc--riding in the back of a car with animated characters--said, “That’s all, folks.”
But weeks before that commercial was to air, Blanc died. Oldsmobile quickly ordered the agency to re-edit the spot to remove the pictures of Blanc. That action incensed Noel.
“It was all wrong to change the commercial,” said Noel, who runs the Beverly Hills production company Blanc Communications Corp. “Why is it that you can show movies with people who have died, but you can’t do the same with commercials?”
When Beard, the popular cookbook author who some called “America’s chef,” died several years ago, US West Direct yanked its ad that featured him. It is a distraction to viewers when a celebrity who they know is dead is on TV pitching a product, said Alan Kupchick, president of the client’s Los Angeles agency, Grey Advertising.
“It’s just not in good taste to run commercials after someone has died,” said Ian Campbell, senior vice president at Chatsworth-based Great Western, which pulled its John Wayne ad immediately after the actor’s death in 1979. “We thought it might look like we were trying to capitalize on his death.”
But years later, during Great Western’s centennial celebration, the bank received permission from Wayne’s family to bring back the ad and air it over a two-week period. A few people phoned the bank to raise objections, Campbell said, but the bank also received requests from people who wanted Great Western to put together a video of all of Wayne’s bank ads.
A year after actor Michael Landon died, he continued to appear in “infomercials” pitching educational seminars. At the time, Landon’s manager said Landon had asked that the ads continue to air after his death. His estate received the benefits.
Diet Coke has recently broadcast commercials that feature some of Hollywood’s most famous celebrities from the past--such as Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney--who appear to be reincarnated as they interact with modern-day stars such as Elton John and Paula Abdul.
In fact, sometimes the death of an actor can make an ad even more effective.
Before his death, actor Yul Brynner--a chain smoker who had lung cancer--appeared on “Good Morning America” and was asked what he would tell people if he could talk to them after his death.
His response to that statement was later turned into an anti-smoking public service ad that aired after his passing. “Now that I’m gone, I tell you: Don’t smoke,” he said. “Whatever you do, just don’t smoke.”
Briefly . . .
The Los Angeles agency Davis, Ball & Colombatto and its Spanish-language partner, Ad Americas, have won the $5-million broadcast account for Dominguez-based Pic ‘N’ Save. . . . La Victoria Foods of the City of Industry will split its $5-million ad account between two Los Angeles agencies: DDB Needham, which will create ads, and Western International Media, which will handle media buying. . . . J. Wilson & Associates, a black-owned Los Angeles agency, has won a print ad contract with the Western division of Kentucky Fried Chicken. . . . Los Angeles-based Bowes Dentsu & Partners has picked up the $1-million direct-response account for Air New Zealand. . . . Adweek reports that Beverly Hills-based Creative Artists Agency, which has taken much of the Coke Classic ad business away from McCann-Erickson, has also begun to pitch ideas for the $80-million Diet Coke ad business now handled by Lintas: N.Y. . . . CAA client Robin Williams is talking with AT&T; about becoming a spokesman.
