# What other dead people are still hawking products? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530 "2010-01-03T19:49:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/1 "2010-01-03T19:49:16Z")
This morning I saw a commercial with [Billy Mays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mays). The sucker’s been dead for 6 months but he’s still hawking items on the tube. Are there any other dead people out there still actively selling things? I remember seeing Charles Atlas in comic books in the 70’s, and I believe Colonel Sanders was in a few ads after he assumed room temperature. But those are going back quite a bit. Any dead folks currently still on? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/2 "2010-01-03T20:28:30Z")
That’s surprising (the Billy Mays thing)…I haven’t seen a Billy Mays ad since shortly after he died. Kaboom now has some generic young woman’s disembodied voice doing the shilling. I’m also pretty certain that I’ve seen Oxyclean ads without the Shouting Man. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/3 "2010-01-03T20:29:16Z")
[Orville Redenbacher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Redenbacher#Death_and_legacy) pops up now and then. ETA add link. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/4 "2010-01-03T20:30:31Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Orville Redenbacher pops up now and then. _flicks **runner pat** ’s ear_ Stop that! ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/5 "2010-01-03T20:33:16Z")
Don’t know if they are doing it now but back in 2001 the heirs of Martin Luther King and Lou Gehrig were hawking Alcatel using images from the “I have a dream” and “Luckiest man alive” speeches. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/6 "2010-01-03T20:36:35Z")
T[upac apparently has released seven albums since he died in 1996.](http://www.cracked.com/article_15659_tupac-shakur-still-alive.html) > [@](#): > > When the album Better Dayz appeared in November of 2002, many music critics noted that Tupac had released more albums since his death (seven) than many of the nation’s top living artists. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/7 "2010-01-03T20:47:53Z")
And, John Wayne, Fred Astaire and one or two others were digitally inserted into some ads a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/8 "2010-01-03T21:08:18Z")
There was that DirectTV commercial about a month back featuring Chris Farley. I think they stopped it after enough people complained. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/9 "2010-01-03T21:16:47Z")
I remember reading an interview with Billy Mays’ son to the effect that they still show classic movies with dead actors, and his dad would’ve wanted the same. Probably also influenced by residual payments, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/10 "2010-01-03T21:56:17Z")
When Billy Mays died, I was hoping for sweet relief from his annoying voice. I’m still waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/11 "2010-01-03T22:11:59Z")
The “Empire Today” guy isn’t dead yet, but I’ve noticed they now have an animated version of him. No doubt Toon-Empire-Today-Guy will live on for a looooong time. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/12 "2010-01-04T01:31:04Z")
Charlie Chaplin was advertising IBM computers in the early 80s; he died in 1977. The Smith Brothers hawked their cough drops for decades after their deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/13 "2010-01-04T02:04:09Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > When the album Better Dayz appeared in November of 2002, many music critics noted that Tupac had released more albums since his death (seven) than many of the nation’s top living artists. Well, I imagine most living artists haven’t released posthumous albums. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/14 "2010-01-04T02:21:08Z")
Near the drugstore I use, there is a “As Seen on TV” store. It has a Billy Mays for President poster in the window, which I find really creepy. Yes, I just had to tell you that. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/15 "2010-01-04T05:52:01Z")
Didn’t Smiling Bob of Enzyte disappear in a boating accident a year or so ago? I still see him up and about on TV. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/16 "2010-01-04T07:42:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Charlie Chaplin was advertising IBM computers in the early 80s; he died in 1977. > > The Smith Brothers **hawked** their cough drops for decades after their deaths. (Bolding mine.) You, go sit in the corner for that terrible pun (even if it was punintentional). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/17 "2010-01-04T08:33:40Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Didn’t Smiling Bob of Enzyte disappear in a boating accident a year or so ago? I still see him up and about on TV. This was no boating accident!!! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/18 "2024-03-13T08:34:05Z")
And on it goes: Larry King dead going on 4 years. Elmer Hauldren dead 13 years. Bill Mays dead 15 years and he’s STILL selling stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/19 "2024-03-13T10:04:57Z")
They’re still using Jimmy Dean’s voice to sell sausage. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530/20 "2024-03-13T21:39:34Z")
Are we counting likenesses, or actual people? Because KFC still uses the image of Colonel Sanders, and sometimes an actor portraying him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-dead-people-are-still-hawking-products/523530.md?page=2)