Morgue Ads on TV and on Ice
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office stuck its toe in show biz Wednesday night. Well, make that toe tag.
ABC’s “World’s Funniest Commercials” featured a public service ad for the coroner’s gift shop, which sells chalk-drawing-emblazoned T-shirts and personalized toe tags to raise money for its anti-drunk-driving program. The 30-second spot shows a sheet-draped cadaver reaching out to grab a coffee mug from a gift shop display.
The commercial was produced by the Richmond, Va., advertising agency Arnold Finnegan Martin as part of a package that included print ads and in-store signs with such slogans as “Shoplifter’s next-of-kin will be notified.”
“We were looking to do a public service ad with a new twist,” said Matt Smith, creative director for Arnold Finnegan Martin.
The ads have been donated to the coroner’s office, which has no immediate plans to use them.
“They were kind of given to us,” gift shop director Marilyn Lewis said. “We hate to discourage something like that.” Lewis said she likes the commercial, though she finds it “a little far out.”
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