# Commercials using dead people **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669 "2010-09-30T23:06:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/1 "2010-09-30T23:06:03Z")
I am continually annoyed by the Oxy Clean commercials that show Billy Mays in the background silently pitching while his alive pal pitches in the foreground. I also remember a commercial with Fred Astaire doing a dance routine with a… broom? …vacuum cleaner? Can anyone think of other commercials with old live footage of dead people spliced in? I am not referring to actors portraying some old dead guy like Lincoln or Washington. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/2 "2010-09-30T23:08:58Z")
The had John Wayne pitching beer in a commercial a while back. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/3 "2010-09-30T23:18:03Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > The had John Wayne pitching beer in a commercial a while back. I found two on [this page](http://wn.com/Funny_John_Wayne_Coors_Light_Beer_Commercial) for Coors Lite. Don’t recall ever seeing them before. One of them has R Lee Ermy as a drill sergeant as well. Pretty good, actually. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/4 "2010-10-01T00:13:23Z")
Wasn’t there an anti smoking one with Yul Brynner? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/5 "2010-10-01T00:23:17Z")
Holsten Pils adverts [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MfdnlUvmXIw/hqdefault.jpg "Holsten Pils - Cowboys - 1987 - UK Advert") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfdnlUvmXIw) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Jd0twblMeLk/hqdefault.jpg "Graham Rose Holsten Pils Advert") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd0twblMeLk) There were several others in a similar vein ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/6 "2010-10-01T00:28:20Z")
Audrey Hepburn was in a clothing commercial a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/7 "2010-10-01T00:28:50Z")
I don’t mind the Oxy Clean ads because it’s actual footage of Billy doing a commercial. He sold Oxy Clean and now they are using his image to do the same. Showing a commercial that an actor/spokesperson made while he was alive after he died doesn’t bother me either. What I do not like are the commercials where they take footage from movies or interviews and change their words or insert beer or a broom or whatever product. To me, that is creepy. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/8 "2010-10-01T00:43:08Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Wasn’t there an anti smoking one with Yul Brynner? He had made it while he was alive but knew he was dying of lung cancer, specifically intending it to be aired after his death. So it’s not quite the same as commercials using footage from deceased actor’s movies to advertise products that didn’t even exist when they were alive. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/9 "2010-10-01T01:43:27Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Holsten Pils adverts > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfdnlUvmXIw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfdnlUvmXIw) > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd0twblMeLk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd0twblMeLk) > > There were several others in a similar vein You linked to Gary Cooper and Marilyn Monroe. I don’t recognize the guy in [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7R1TUfuoI). Is this Cagney? Sounds like him. > [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > Audrey Hepburn was in a clothing commercial a few years ago. I three of hers for The Gap, with nearly identical video but different soundtracks [Skinny Black Pants](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g_VQJcx-rU) [Skinny Black Pants with Beatles music](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMAzwkz4Zjk) Skinny Black Pants with AC/DC [This one’s a little iffy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M23mllLxRKo) – looks like her in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is it really her? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/10 "2010-10-01T01:47:23Z")
There’s the Golf commercial using Gene Kelly’s [Singin’ in the Rain.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4U5txZ4KWI) There’s also the Orville Redenbacher popcorn commercials. Too disturbing to link to. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/11 "2010-10-01T01:56:12Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Wasn’t there an anti smoking one with Yul Brynner? He wanted to make it when he was very ill. Helped me quit, BTW. Sorry, Lurkmeister. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/12 "2010-10-01T03:41:54Z")
You probably haven’t heard of Bob Monkhouse, but he was a household name in the UK as a comedian and quiz show host. He died of prostate cancer and was later used in [an ad campaign to raise awareness about the disease; it was very moving.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6743261.stm) A scene from the film Carry on Loving was used in [an advert for Bounty kitchen towel.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kcx1gjx4rk) They used extras to film the scenes that weren’t in the original and then spliced them in - a friend of mine was Hattie Jacques’ legs. 😃 Most of the people in it are dead. In the eighties I’m sure there was an advert that used scenes from Casablanca, but I can’t find it online now. It had a kid who was trying to romance a little girl who was. oddly, clearly about 8 to his 12. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/13 "2010-10-01T13:27:36Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I don’t recognize the guy in [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7R1TUfuoI). Is this Cagney? Sounds like him. [George Raft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Raft), who doesn’t sound much like Cagney. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/14 "2010-10-01T13:29:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > > > I don’t recognize the guy in [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7R1TUfuoI). Is this Cagney? Sounds like him. > > [George Raft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Raft), who doesn’t sound much like Cagney. To me he sounded Cagneyish when he said, “9 more years and 6 months in this hole” ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/15 "2010-10-01T16:27:40Z")
Jim Varney’s picture as the Ernest character was used in print ads for a car dealership in California for years after his death. Later they did tv commercials with a CG version of the character with a bad sound-alike. I don’t know if they ever used footage of the live Ernest in the tv commercials though. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/16 "2010-10-01T17:31:41Z")
I recall Reebok running a print ad that showed a photo of James Dean wearing a pair of their sneakers. There was some kerfuffle raised about it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/17 "2010-10-04T02:02:18Z")
[Still the creepiest of them all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcn4p213Zg8) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/18 "2010-10-04T02:06:22Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > [Still the creepiest of them all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcn4p213Zg8) He just keeps popping up. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/19 "2010-10-04T02:09:21Z")
I hate [this ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C-4A7VS6C4), graverobbing and it shits all over a great song too. They’re on my boycott list because of it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669/20 "2010-10-04T02:18:13Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > [Still the creepiest of them all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcn4p213Zg8) What’s creepy about it? Stupid tie. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-using-dead-people/555669.md?page=2)