Lou Rawls sells life insurance from the grave

[toby]

I was a little disturbed this morning when I saw this Colonial Penn ad featuring the recently deceased Lou Rawls. Especially disturbing was when he was talking about funeral expenses. Hopefully someone will have the good sense to pull the ad soon.
<P ID="signature">______________
<a href=http://blog.spotteddogs.org/blog/>Random Observations on Life, the Universe and Television</a></P>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

I seem to recall hearing a radio commercial a few years back (it was an insurance commercial, but I don't think it was from Colonial Penn) with Dennis James-----several months after he had died!

Besides, doesn't Colonial Penn also use Alex Trebek as a spokesman?? If the company has a current spot featuring Trebek, they could tell broadcasters to substitute the Lou Rawls commercials with the Alex Trebek one.

 

[DiamondJoe]

> I was a little disturbed this morning when I saw this
> Colonial Penn ad featuring the recently deceased Lou Rawls.
> Especially disturbing was when he was talking about funeral
> expenses. Hopefully someone will have the good sense to pull
> the ad soon.

Do you remember what channel/network showed the ad?<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>

 

[toby]

> Do you remember what channel/network showed the ad?

I thnk it was WNYW or WWOR.
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<a href=http://www.triborough.org/blog/>Random Observations on Life, the Universe and Television</a></P>

 

[network]

> Besides, doesn't Colonial Penn also use Alex Trebek as a
> spokesman?? If the company has a current spot featuring
> Trebek, they could tell broadcasters to substitute the Lou
> Rawls commercials with the Alex Trebek one.

Since he passed during the weekend, it would be a little difficult for the client to do anything about it. The fact is, this is something that the station's traffic director should've been aware of. Plus, if someone was working master control, they should've noticed this as well (that is if they preview their traffic log to ensure all of their spots are there).

 

[nascar_red]

> > Do you remember what channel/network showed the ad?
>
> I thnk it was WNYW or WWOR.
>
I also saw one this morning in Phoenix. Can't remember which station I was on at the time but it was either KTVK, KPNX or TBS. I think I saw it on KPNX during the third hour of Today (9-10am MST).

 

[ticoSD]

> I was a little disturbed this morning when I saw this
> Colonial Penn ad featuring the recently deceased Lou Rawls.
> Especially disturbing was when he was talking about funeral
> expenses. Hopefully someone will have the good sense to pull
> the ad soon.

I wonder if his family was contacted to get their OK to keep the ads running. When Michael Landon died in the late 80s, his family allowed an informercial he appeared on ("Where There's A Will, There's an A") to keep running.
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"...and the countdown continues until the neanderthals that govern college football do something about their pathetic postseason."--Tim Brando, Sporting News Radio</P>

 

[ixnay]

> > When Michael Landon died in the late 80s,
> his family allowed an informercial he appeared on ("Where
> There's A Will, There's an A") to keep running.
>

When Mel Blanc was in the last months of his life, a bank in the DC area ran spots filmed in B&W featuring him and Elmer Fudd.* I saw the Blanc spot once or twice in the fortnight after he died in July 1989.

*This bank had previously used similar spots featuring Andrea McArdle and Ella Fitzgerald.

ixnay

 

[Nertz]

That is morbid!

 

[KML0224]

I also seem to remember an insurance ad or something to that effect which featured Jerry Orbach. It still ran for a week or two after the "Law And Order" star had passed away.
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[Braves2005]

> I also seem to remember an insurance ad or something to that
> effect which featured Jerry Orbach. It still ran for a week
> or two after the "Law And Order" star had passed away.

When Nell Carter of Gimme A Break died,she was doing commercials for Liberty Medical Services and they ran those commercials for a few days after she died.

 

[techboywi]

> I was a little disturbed this morning when I saw this
> Colonial Penn ad featuring the recently deceased Lou Rawls.
> Especially disturbing was when he was talking about funeral
> expenses. Hopefully someone will have the good sense to pull
> the ad soon.
>


I still see ads featuring Pat Morita for a local realtor, they have now tacked on a slide to the end of the commecial that say "In Loving Memory of Pat Morita" and then gives his birth year and year he died...<P ID="signature">______________
Bob Colon
www.bobs-world.net
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today"-James Dean</P>

 

[leach]

Lorne Greene did some kind of ad for insurance ( may very have been Colonial Penn as well ) that ran for a brief time after his death back in 1987.

John Ritter, Vic Tayback ( Alice ), and Ester Rolle ( Good Times ) all did commericals shortly before their deaths and in the case with Tayback ( Heniz 57 ) & Rolle ( Psychic Friends? ), I think they still aired shortly after their deaths. I heard the same was true with Fred Barry from Whats Happening.

In the case with Tayback and Barry, perhaps with Rolle, since they had been off TV for awhile, their deaths weren't reported as much so this could be case of the local station and maybe even the advertiser didn't know. Come to think of it when Tayback died from a heart attack, I don't think it even made the local paper here.