August 12, 2005

I don't love Lucy. I find her a little cold. Some marketing company in the States has compiled its list of the most popular dead celebrities, so as to better market those snuffed stars. Sure, their acting's a little stiff, but we love 'em anyway.

Which brings to mind some questions -- is this ethical, to use dead celebrities to sell stuff they didn't sell during their own lifetimes (for whatever reason)? Should children of dead celebrities get to draw on their parent's earning power? Was the Steve McQueen commercial an abomination or just really really cool? Bring out the dead!

posted by Capt. Renault 19 years ago
  • Michael Landon *wipes a tear* Yeah, yeah I use to be a Little House junkie... Hell, I grew up on the prairie myself I use to live down the road from where this company is located. I moved away for a reason...
  • Probably the most tasteless example of pimping dead celebs was the infamous ad that had Fred Astaire dancing with a friggin vacuum cleaner.
  • is this ethical, to use dead celebrities to sell stuff they didn't sell during their own lifetimes Not sure, yet her image is a very wanted item. Name another past or current TV show being viewed every 1/2 hour somewhere in the world. Also, her memorabilia is a popular trinket found in many homes in a specific area of Dallas, TX. Which may be the same in many cities with a large population.
  • Yes, Islander, that was pretty bad. Made his dancing look bad too--he never hoovered over Gracie like that. *hangs head, ashamed I went that far for a bad pun*
  • Gracie?? - he asked gingerly ;-)
  • Part of me says, if your legacy doesn't clearly present an opinion on whoring yourself out to advertising, then who really cares? I.e., in an ideal world, people would be informed an conscientious enough that any misuse of an icon would just backfire. That's certainly not guaranteed to happen, though.
  • Gracie? Do you perhaps mean Ginger?
  • (now, of course, I see islander's teeny-tiny post)
  • The dance used in the vacuum commercial was done with a broom in one of Astaire's movies from the 1930s - same steps but the sweeper was updated. I sort of thought the switcheroo was funny, though it didn't persuade me to by the vacuum cleaner. And, Capt. Renault - I don't think that the heirs would benefit from the commercials in most cases. The studios own the footage. Or, if it's passed out of copyright, maybe usage is free if the ad agencies can find a decent copy somewhere.
  • duh, of course your right, Islander/Briank. So who's Gracie, and why is she dancing?
  • Gracie was George Burn's comedy partner. And wife? I think their famous line was "Say hello, Gracie" "Hello Gracie".
  • If they're dead, they don't care.
  • jb, you're getting warm. George: Say good-night, Gracie Gracie: Good-night, Gracie. How they always closed every performance.
  • I didn't love Lucy when she was warm. Go ahead, use her up. Oh, and I don't love Raymond, either.