# How Long Should A Company Use A Dead Actor In Their Commercials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455 "2004-12-24T07:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/1 "2004-12-24T07:31:22Z")
Hoover contines to show it commercial for the [Hoover Floor MATE](http://www.hoover.com/FloorMate/) using the actor Trevor Goodard, who died in June, 2003. Why does Hoover continue to use the commercial? Is there a contractual issue (with the estate)? Are they too cheap to redo the commercial using another (Aussie) actor? Something else? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/2 "2004-12-24T14:29:57Z")
Kano died??? When? How? (No cracks about having his neck snapped by Sonya or his spine ripped out by Sub-Zero) I always like him and wished he’d been in more movies. He also got knocked through a window in Pirates of the Caribbean. Sigh, the world needs a new Crocodile Dundee (figuratively…I don’t really want a new Paul Hogan movie.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/3 "2004-12-24T14:43:53Z")
Funny you should ask. I noticed only a few days ago that Victoria Bitter ads no longer feature the voice of Aussie actor John Meillon who died in 1989. Up until this year they had spliced together bits of tape they had to make new ads each year. Last year the ads still featured the voice of the long dead Aussie legend. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/4 "2004-12-24T15:44:43Z")
> [@Max Carnage](#): > > Kano died??? When? How? (No cracks about having his neck snapped by Sonya or his spine ripped out by Sub-Zero) I always like him and wished he’d been in more movies. He also got knocked through a window in Pirates of the Caribbean. > > Sigh, the world needs a new Crocodile Dundee (figuratively…I don’t really want a new Paul Hogan movie.) He committed suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/5 "2004-12-24T19:44:58Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Funny you should ask. I noticed only a few days ago that Victoria Bitter ads no longer feature the voice of Aussie actor John Meillon who died in 1989. Up until this year they had spliced together bits of tape they had to make new ads each year. Last year the ads still featured the voice of the long dead Aussie legend. Victoria Bitter? ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/6 "2004-12-24T23:45:16Z")
It’s a beer. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/7 "2004-12-25T00:33:08Z")
At least until they start to smell. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/8 "2004-12-25T01:10:17Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Hoover contines to show it commercial for the [Hoover Floor MATE](http://www.hoover.com/FloorMate/) using the actor Trevor Goodard, who died in June, 2003. Ew. That’s a little macabre. I don’t have cable so I hadn’t noticed they were still running the commercial. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/9 "2004-12-25T02:02:50Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > He committed suicide. Well, as far as an apparent OD under unknown circumstances can be considered such. (Pardon if I’m mistaken.) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/10 "2004-12-25T15:18:23Z")
> [@TastesLikeBurning](#): > > At least until they start to smell. Some of them started to do that long ago, and they’re still alive. But seriously, I remember hearing a voice like Robert Mitchum’s doing the the Beef is Better ads for a while after he died. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/11 "2004-12-25T15:28:41Z")
I think it’s worse if the person’s death is somehow connectible to the product, like Dave Thomas/Wendy’s. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/12 "2004-12-25T18:57:28Z")
There was one _good_ public service announcement that aired after the actor died, at his specific request. It was Yul Brynner, doing an anti-smoking ad(he died of lung cancer, after being a smoker). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/13 "2004-12-25T19:17:18Z")
Well, let’s see here, Ford exhumed Steve McQueen’s corpse for use in a Mustang commercial recently. Somebody had a long dead Fred Astaire dancing with a vacuum cleaner. Braun had Jackie Gleason using one of their hand mixers and Coors had the corpse of John Wayne selling light beer not too long ago. Supposedly, a voice actor was imitating Alfred Hitchcock in commercials in Japan years ago. Companies like doing it, because the dead celeb is often an icon so it enables them to associate their product with a high status image at a much lower cost. Additionally, they don’t have to worry about reworking an ad campaign if the star dies or gets ensnared in a scandal (ala OJ, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, etc.). In some cases, I don’t think that it really matters, if the star was known for doing ads for things in their lifetime, but if you take someone like Steve McQueen who only did **one** commercial (and put all kinds of conditions upon it before he’d even do it) and have them shilling for something, that’s tasteless to the extreme, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/14 "2004-12-25T19:45:24Z")
Dr Pepper kept airing an ad featuring Jam Master Jay for quite a while after he was killed. In fact, he may have already been dead when it was first aired. I seem to remember that the first time I saw the commercial it ended with a dedication to his memory, which I remember thinking may have been in poor taste. It’s just a commercial after all. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/15 "2004-12-25T20:20:16Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Well, as far as an apparent OD under unknown circumstances can be considered such. > > (Pardon if I’m mistaken.) The original media reports of his death on June 9 said “apparent suicide” and that was the foucs of the media hubbub. The on August 5, the coroner went on record with a press release that state he died of multiple drug intoxication and LA Coroner’s spokesman David Campbell said officially “The coroner has ruled the death accidental.” Unfortunately the AP “suicide” stories were so widely circulated by them that even some of the more reliable sources state that he died deliberately by his own hand. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/16 "2004-12-25T20:43:19Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > Dr Pepper kept airing an ad featuring Jam Master Jay for quite a while after he was killed. In fact, he may have already been dead when it was first aired. I seem to remember that the first time I saw the commercial it ended with a dedication to his memory, which I remember thinking may have been in poor taste. It’s just a commercial after all. If I recall correctly, the ad had been finished but didn’t air until Jay had been killed. It was decided to run the commercial as tribute, ending with an “in memoriam” still. The Dr Pepper ads at that time featured (and still feature) a singer singing about how another singer was original and did their own thing, like Dr Pepper. (Yeah, I know this is a stupid premise for an ad campaign, but that’s Madison Avenue for you). In this case, I believe it was LL Cool J rampping about Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/17 "2004-12-25T20:44:46Z")
_Rapping_, even. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/18 "2004-12-26T04:17:33Z")
In the same ad campaign, Latin music legend Celia Cruz appeared with a young singer. She _also_ died and they kept running the commercial (difference being she was old and not murdered). I kept thinking, “Man. I’d hate to be Cyndie Lauper or Reba McEntire!” ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/19 "2004-12-26T15:40:56Z")
There’s a car dealership in the Sacramento, CA area that just last night used the tackiest “ghostified” image of Jim Varney with another person’s voice over it saying “I’M THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST!” and something about not letting deals pass you by, then they ran an old clip of him doing his “Hey Vern, come buy a car at Roseville Auto Mall” or whatever. That was possibly the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen! > [@Krokodil](#): > > I think it’s worse if the person’s death is somehow connectible to the product, like Dave Thomas/Wendy’s. Wendy’s gives you liver cancer? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Trailer\_Park\_Casanova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@Trailer\_Park\_Casanova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trailer_Park_Casanova)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455/20 "2004-12-26T15:47:54Z")
* * * Posted by IGNATZ: “But seriously, I remember hearing a voice like Robert Mitchum’s doing the the Beef is Better ads for a while after he died.” * * * Is that Robert Mitchum? I thought it was actor Sam Sheppard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-should-a-company-use-a-dead-actor-in-their-commercials/281455.md?page=2)