Oct 15, 2008

Is it just me?

Or does the current DirectTV ad (below) that spoofs the film Poltergeist just seem wrong. Most of us know that Heather O'Rourke, the little girl in the film, died rather suddenly and tragically just six years after the film was made. Using her image to sell a product 20 years after he death just seems a bit callous and cold to me.

Here...take a few seconds to watch the video:


Does Craig T. Nelson really need the money that much that he was fine with signing off on a commercial making fun of a ghost film starring his dead co-star? I know Coach has been off the air for a while and Blades of Glory was just plain embarrassing, but this just feels wrong on so many levels. Or is the creepiest part of these commercials the CGI that makes the stars like Nelson look like they did over 25 years ago?

So far the stable of ads from DirectTV have run the gamut from slightly funny to desperately over-reaching. Now they have included offensive and stupid. Good job, kids!

20 comments:

Kaye Waller said...

Oh yeah. It's just wrong.

Anonymous said...

Wow - you are the second blogger I've run into who has posted this same subject. And yeah, it just seems wrong. But so were those commercials that reanimated Audrey Hepburn. Creepy and wrong.

RW said...

I knew there was something about the ad that was just somehow not OK and couldn't put my finger on it. Now I know. Jeez...

Michelle said...

b.e. i totally concur!! What's wrong with people???

Dr Zibbs said...

My cousin's friend's mom works at DirectTV and she said that the next commercial is going to feature Ron Howard's brother. Now that is just..oh wait..he's still alive. Nevermind.

Verdant Earl said...

Steph - agreed.

Teeni - yeah, but the fact that she is a little kid and died so young makes it especially heinous.

RW - actually it was Gia who first pointed out how wrong the commercial was to me. So I know what you mean.

Michelle - people suck.

Zibbs - he is alive, but that big bear he starred with in Gentle Ben isn't. So sad. (I was gonna go with a Star Trek/Balok joke here, but even I thought it was too geeky)

Poppy said...

I thought the very same thing you did about that ad.

It's very uncomfortable to watch.

Heff said...

It really didn't bother me as bad as the fact that Craig T. Nelson got a gig out of it. I never liked that dude.

Verdant Earl said...

Poppy - true dat!

Heff - what? You didn't enjoy his voice over work in The Incredibles? Incredible! ;)

Bruce Johnson said...

You are slowly catching up to me. I think ALL commercials on television are in poor taste and stupid.

Ookami Snow said...

I don't like any of these commercials. But this one is the worst of the bunch.

Verdant Earl said...

Bruce - Not at all. That baby who day trades and then pukes all over the keyboard. Priceless! ;)

Ookami - Easily.

Faiqa said...

That's messed up. But, hey, that's the underside of rampant free market capitalism which undermines the moral and ethical subtexts of how an entity chooses to accumulate profit. I'm just sayin'.

Jon said...

What Faiqa said innit.

Anonymous said...

I can stand a great deal. But I will not stand, in fact I will sit, for your bashing of Blades of Glory. Take it back! TAKE IT BACK I SAY! I said it.

pure evyl said...

It was in bad taste but I am still waiting for a spoof from them of BJ and The Bear.

Verdant Earl said...

Faiqa/Jon - I'm having a beer right now so I only undestood like half that. ;)

WLC - I take it back. Jon Heder is a fucking genius!

Evyl - With the real Bear and a CGI BJ, right?

Unknown said...

Yeah, that's pretty cold-blooded. How did she die, anyway? I missed that.

Verdant Earl said...

MikeB - she died of a vascular and intestinal disorder, I believe.

Brown said...

I think all of them suck. They suck even more becuase they continue to defoul classic movies.