They’re killing us!
They want to refinance our homes, put us in a new car, give us a deal on a new bed. In our cars, the radio tuned to talk or sports radio, we hear their signature lines. In the supposed safety of our homes, their faces leap out at us from our television screens.
Over and over, and over and over again, we hear the refrains: the been-around-forever car salesman Cal Worthington, with a twinkle in his eye and a hippopotamus at his side.
Or the hapless, useless banker who ends all attempts at a deal with “Grrr, lost another loan to Ditech.”
Or, perhaps most inescapable of all, whiny, worried Sit ‘n Sleep accountant “Irwin” declaring to his client, “You’re killing me, Larry!” Not that Larry notices; he’s too busy gearing up for his tagline, the phrase and phrasing tattooed on the brains of anyone with a TV or radio within Southern California: “We’ll beat anyone’s advertised price or your mattress is ...” and here his voice rises a few octaves, “FREEEEEEE!”
The ubiquitous on-air pitches for Sit ‘n Sleep mattress company, Ditech.com mortgage company or the various car dealerships owned by Worthington, to say nothing of their brethren who want to tone our abs or sell us on the virtues of satellite TV systems, are part of a tradition about as old as broadcasting. In Los Angeles, it dates back at least as far as Earl “Madman” Muntz, the supposed inventor of car stereos, and a pioneer of using relentless, distinctive ad buys on the airwaves to sell his products.
They are among TV and radio’s most memorable figures, although their spots generally air on radio, or on TV in the late-night hours and on local and cable outlets -- times and locations where marketers don’t need Procter & Gamble’s ad budget. Although all have their fans, these odd-hours hucksters also tend to rank as some of TV and radio’s most annoying figures, even to members of their own families.
“My wife drives down the road saying, ‘I can’t believe I’m married to Irwin!’ ” Cary Sacks says. Irwin is Sit ‘n Sleep President Larry Miller’s nemesis.
Miller and Sacks, the young advertising executive whose Marina del Rey-based Ideaology Advertising has produced the spots for the last five years, are in a Santa Monica recording studio about to record the latest installment of what he calls the “psychodrama” between Irwin and Larry. “We’ve had the two of them in a counseling session -- all kinds of ridiculous situations,” says Sacks, who voices the character.
Sit ‘n Sleep, which he founded in 1978, has grown to become the sixth-largest mattress company in the country, according to Miller, expanding from three stores to 12 since he began working with Ideaology. “Larry truly is a maniacal discounter,” Sacks says. “He’s the ultimate retailer.”
Like many CEOs, Miller chose to appear in his own commercials since the beginning, writing them with an ad account rep from KABC radio. “I was a rank amateur,” he says of his performances. “I stunk.”
But one day, in the early ‘80s, a customer called up wanting a guarantee that Miller’s mattress prices were the cheapest. Initially offering to guarantee his low price, Miller went one step further: “I said, ‘Ma’am, I’ll beat anyone’s price or your mattress is free.” Thus, with a little embellishment, a phenomenon was born. “I got a little more theatrical,” he adds, understating a bit.
Things got a little more complicated when Miller was opening his second store in 1997 and began working with Sacks to create a more interesting ad campaign. “It was tough in the beginning, and my accountant kept calling me and begging me not to open any more stores, don’t do any giveaways,” the executive recalls. “I was talking to Cary about how much he was irritating me. So I said, ‘I’m gonna do something about it.’ ” The two decided to put “Irwin” into the ads.
The accountant character was originally to be called “Murray,” but Miller insisted on “Irwin.” “I said, ‘No, our CPA is Irwin” -- real name, Irwin Zigmond, a boyhood friend of Miller’s. “He’s driving me crazy, so I’m gonna drive him crazy.” And what does the real Irwin think of his radio characterization? “I think it’s made him somewhat of a celebrity in some accounting circles,” Sacks says. “I met him, and he looks the part -- trust me.”
Sacks decided to voice the part himself, based on, well ... “I’m a Jew from New York, what can I tell you?” The otherwise soft-spoken ad executive actually sounds nothing like his tormented alter ego, whom he describes as “a 50-Maalox-a-day guy.” With no visible New York-isms apparent, he notes, “I wouldn’t have advanced very far in my career if I talked like that!”
Sacks credits the success of the spots to their humor and to Miller’s willingness to associate humor with his business. “We’re not trying to write the Gettysburg Address here,” Miller says. “We’re just trying to make people aware of our company, have a little smile, and a positive thought when they need our product.”
Miller isn’t the only CEO appearing in his own spots. But using the boss to sell the goods isn’t always a given for success. “If you’re using them with a sense of self-importance, if they’re pumping themselves up or just sitting there, they’re not likable, and there’s no value to using them,” Sacks says. “The campaigns that have used CEOs successfully invariably have them poking fun at themselves.”
And don’t forget Cal
One of the oldest such personalities is automobile entrepreneur Cal Worthington, the king of the cheesy car commercial. Worthington lives on his ranch in the Northern California town of Orland, near Chico. Even at 82, he produces 30 to 40 spots per week. They date to his first auto ad in 1950, in the early years of live television. A decorated World War II pilot, he left the service and returned to Corpus Christi, Texas. Unable to find work, he began fixing up old cars and selling them and soon had a thriving business as a bona-fide Hudson dealer.
Replacing his original announcer, Worthington took over doing the spots himself and continued the trend upon moving to the West Coast, where he, at one point, had as many as 13 dealerships. “I’ve pulled back some,” he tells The Times. “I only have three now.”
Worthington became famous for appearing in his down-home commercials, featuring “Cal Worthington and his dog, Spot.”
“We started that about 1970. It was sort of an in-joke,” he says of the ads, which poked fun at fellow dealer and on-air pitchman Ralph Williams, who appeared with a German shepherd in his own commercials. Worthington has turned up with every animal possible -- hippos, gorillas, tigers -- everything but a dog.
And while flashy BMW and Mercedes ads appeal to L.A.’s upper crust, such customers “probably think my ads are a bunch of hooey -- and they are,” he says. “Mine appeal to the ordinary guy, the working man or woman,” noting that often over the years, customers have come in simply to meet the man behind the animals -- and driven away with a new car. “I try to make my commercials a little less obnoxious than the other guy. They’re obnoxious, but I try to make them a little less obnoxious.”
That has never seemed to be a big concern of Costa Mesa-based Ditech.com, another staple of Southern California television. The company, which focuses on high-risk home refinancing, also originally featured its company founder, Paul Reddam, in its spots. That ended when Reddam resigned from the company in 2000 at a time when Ditech was embroiled in a financial scandal for which he was not charged. He also lashed out at GMAC Mortgage, the company he’d sold Ditech to some years earlier.
“Sometimes CEOs are not the best spokespersons,” says Ditech’s VP of marketing, Phil Armstrong.
Almost since the inception of the company, Ditech has featured announcer Mike Villani, the actor with the easygoing voice who spells out the company’s take on mortgage financing. Villani, who has appeared in such films as “Bruce Almighty” and “Man on the Moon” (portraying Merv Griffin, to whom he bears a striking resemblance), has more recently been bolstered by a newer character.
Known to insiders as “Ned the Banker,” the character was introduced in early 2002. Played by actor Ron Michaelson, the Newman-like, obnoxious Ned is unable to sell a refi even to his own mother (whom Michaelson plays as well), much less his psychiatrist, who spends their sessions visiting Ditech’s Web site instead of listening to Ned’s woes. “He’s portraying what Ditech’s positioning is,” Armstrong says, “Fast access to cash. And he does it in a lighthearted way.”
Avoiding viewer fatigue is important, handled by swapping out spots every few weeks, as well as keeping them interesting to watch. Advertisers often straddle the fence between making potential customers laugh and annoying them, but if their advertising is handled effectively, it does any ad’s job: implanting the product in viewers’ brains.
“There’s a big difference between turning someone off and turning someone away,” Cary Sacks notes. “I don’t think that many people hold it against the company and decide never to shop there.”
Adds Sit ‘n Sleep’s Miller, simply, “This isn’t brain surgery -- it’s about mattresses.”
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Annoying -- all the way to the bank
Try as you might, you can’t get certain advertising personalities out of your head, and that’s the idea. Here are some of the techniques employed by local broadcasting’s most unavoidable figures.
Cal Worthington mixes ah-shucks folksiness with cheeky humor, as in his choice of “pets,” in selling cars. He’s also succeeded through longevity, having been a local airwaves fixture since before many of his viewers ever started watching TV.
Sit ‘n Sleep founder Larry Miller opted for an unshakable image. It’s unclear how many people have taken Miller up on his offer of beating anyone’s advertised price, but when it comes to getting his voice out of our heads, no one is FREEEEEE.
Ditech.com hammers relentlessly at Ned the Banker, played by Ron Michaelson. By making Ned a perpetual loser who can’t close a deal, even with Mom, the mortgage refinance company aims to make itself look like a savior. Really.
