Amazingly, there's no thread about companies that let their presidents/CEOs do their commercials. The guy who spurred me to create one is Dan Weston, executive vice president of The Skewwter Store. Not sure which is worse, his vaguely angry demeanor or the awkward finger jab everytime he says "Yeww" ("We will put YEWWW in a new pahr chair!").

Edited to remove the orphan quote mark after "YEWWW".

Of course, Lee Iaccoca owns this thread.

Oh, please. Dave Thomas (the guy who founded Wendy's, not the guy from SCTV) is the be-all and end-all of CEO spokesmen.

Don't forget the guy from the Remington shaver ad, who "liked it so much, I bought the company!"

That was Victor Kiam, later known for making comments about a female sportswriter which got him pilloried while he owned the New England Patriots, back when no one gave a damn about any possible "Spygate".
I agree, though, that Dave Thomas owned the thread. Did Harlan Sanders actually do commercials before his death for KFC? I know they showed old film and had a look-a-like actor.

I really hope the guy who posts his Social Security number on a truck in order to show how good his security system is gets his identity stolen.

Too late; he already did!

I was just coming to post that!

You can't forget Orville Redenbacker, who shilled his product from beyond the grave.

And, of course, "Dr." Neil Clark Warren, who brings the creepy about as well as the post-mortem Orville Redenbacher.

Using the CEO as the advertising face of the company is pretty common in American beer ads (in large part because many of them are family owned/operated). The Coors family, Busch family, Yeunling family, and Jim Koch from Sam Adams have all taken turns in front of the camera.

Although from a purely technical standpoint, I'm pretty sure that several people mentioned weren't actually the CEO or President of the company at the time they actually started doing ads. Dave Thomas wasn't and I don't think Orville or Col. Sanders (who did do ads) were either.

Although from a purely technical standpoint, I'm pretty sure that several people mentioned weren't actually the CEO or President of the company at the time they actually started doing ads. Dave Thomas wasn't and I don't think Orville or Col. Sanders (who did do ads) were either.

Colonel Sanders had already sold the company by the time he started doing their commercials, but I think Dave Thomas ran Wendy's until his death a few years ago. TV Party has a hilarious outtake of Sanders doing a KFC ad, cussing like a longshoreman after every mistake (he was said to have a pretty nasty temper).

Of course, Lee Iaccoca owns this thread.

Fo' Shizzle, Ikeazizzle!

And then there's the scary part when the job gets handed down and Junior takes it to the next level. It's bad enough looking at a Perdue, but in my darkest dreams I never prepared myself for seeing a Perdue dressed in sequined spandex skating garb (yeah, the skating is done by an obvious stunt double, but, still).

Am I the only one who finds that moody black and white footage of the Sprint CEO depressing? There's something that makes me feel like he's walking through a frighteningly empty, possibly post-Apocalyptic New York, or maybe it's just a Bergman homage, but either way, it stinks of death and misery. Not exactly the best way to make me switch carriers.

Do Jay Bush and his talking dog count?

Does it could if the CEO creates that ad, but isn't in it? That guy with the racist advertising, uh, advertisements during this year's Super Bowl deserves a mention. I can't remember what his company was called.

As for local, Jake Jabs of All American Warehouse in Colorado. For years, that man and his weird hair shilled his crappy furniture, often using exotic animals as accessories on the beds and tables. Now, his daughters do it.

Salesgenie.com

If I ever need to buy sales leads, I'll know not where to go.

I always thought the Lifelock guy was giving out a fake social security number as an advertising gimic. What kind of idiot would broadcast their real social all over national TV?

Yeah, it's really forlorn. And for some reason, it makes me think of the movie The Road to Perdition (I have no idea why) but also James Dean. And something about it makes me feel like is supposed to be evoking Prague or some such European city. The commercial weirds me out. I can't tell what they're going for.

Yeah, it's really forlorn. And for some reason, it makes me think of the movie The Road to Perdition (I have no idea why) but also James Dean. And something about it makes me feel like is supposed to be evoking Prague or some such European city. The commercial weirds me out. I can't tell what they're going for.

Wasn't that the picture they ripped off for the cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"? The Sprint ads make me think of the trailers for "I Am Legend". Someone mentioned Jay Bush and his dog Duke...They're cool enough to make up for Dan Weston.

I think you might be thinking of pictures from the series this is from. (Here's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan for comparison.) I was actually originally going to link to that picture, but it doesn't really have the mood the commercial evokes to me. It's kind of perplexing, the things this commercial makes people think of. Why would you want your commercial to make people think of dark, moody things?

That reminds me....isn't there another power chair company owned by Tom Cruse? (Not the couch-hopping Scientologist.)

I guess those Dan Weston ads beat the heck out of the ones where octogenarians actually raced on their scooters, surrounded by their nursing home friends. The man was wearing an old-school leather bomber jacket and scarf, a la Red Baron, and the woman was just your average granny. She won. I do believe that was an ad for the Scooter Store. Oh, my I thought I had forgotten all about that one.

He's so smug too. LifeLock is being sued by like 4 people. Lol...

Isn't he the Hoverround(sp?)guy?

Anyone remember the Perdue chicken commercials with Frank Perdue? The only commercial I remember clearly was advertising skinless chicken and then cutting to a shot of Frank with no shirt, saying "I took it off. I took it all off!"

I love the Hoverround commercials where they play the cool sixties music. Also, I get a kick out of the one, I'm not sure which power chair it's for, but it shows the old people singing "You Made Me Love You" really off key.

That's also Hoveround(I looked it up--one "r"). I almost feel guilty laughing at the cheesy ads, because it seems like I'm making fun of elderly folks with mobility issues.

BTW, don't forget:

"Hey, Bernice and Joy, which power chairs got you to the Grand Canyon?"

"Hoveround-Hoveround-Hoveround!"

I have actually met Jay Bush and he is one of the nicest CEO types that I have ever encountered. A very down-to-earth and genuinely nice guy. He told me that he originally didn't want to be in the ads but that the Bush marketing department felt that his "everyman" appeal would go over well with consumers. I don't think that Duke is actually his dog, though. (I love that dog!)

I root for that dog.

For some odd reason this disappoints me.

I love the Hoverround commercials where they play the cool sixties music.

Not me...Beach Boys Songs+Products Primarily Geared To Seniors=Luther's Not Getting Any Younger.

Regarding Duke.

One guy I wish would stop doing his own ads is the Computer Wizard dude. He says the phrase "my product" like fifty times in his ads. The redundancy makes me twitchy.

For some reason it makes me unreasonably happy to find out that there really is a Duke, even if it's not actually the same dog that's on the commercials. I can only assume that the real Duke is far more trustworthy with Jay's recipe...for some reason it's always disturbed me a little that his dog was so willing to sell him out. Goldens are usually more faithful than that, you know?

I have a Golden Lab who'd sell our house for a bag of new tennis balls and a tub of peanut butter.

One guy I wish would stop doing his own ads is the Computer Wizard dude. He says the phrase "my product" like fifty times in his ads. The redundancy makes me twitchy.

Is that John Scherer, CEO And Founder Of Video Professor? I keep picturing him sitting alone at night in a warehouse filled with thousands of CD-ROM tutorials that teach us computer stuff our kids probably taught themselves to do. Poor guy, trying desperately to give his "How To Use eBay" CD's away.

I know! You kinda expect that when some idiot actually gets one of those, they put it in the computer and a window comes up that says "Go to www.ebay.com. Look up and to the left. See where it says "Help"? Click there and just read that stuff. Moron."

Actually, EBay is pretty hard when you use a screen reader. If that guy would put out a tutorial about how to use EBay with Jaws, I'd buy it. BTW, Smittykens, I don't think it's making fun of elderly people to laugh at that commercial. To me, it shows that even though they have mobility issues, they haven't stopped living. Also, I always wondered about Duke. That's pretty cool.

Jay's got a talking dog. Why the hell is he still selling beans for a living?

Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder and board chairman of eHarmony is a big one - although his son is the CEO. And in Canada, Galen Weston Jr. is a very visible pitchman for President's Choice and Loblaw, carrying on the tradition of his father's university roomate, Dave Nichol.

I'm not sure if these ads air on TV, but Best Buy's president appears on ad-type videos airing over and over inside Best Buy stores.

The president of the deli and catering company I work for has reportedly been in radio ads for this local chain, but I have never heard those ones.

I don't think he knows Duke talks. Obviously, I've been hitting my mute button too often during commercial breaks.

I think in some of the more recent ads Jay's gotten a clue that his dog is trying to sell him out, but his response is just an exasperated "Duke!", as if he just accepts that's the doggie's nature, much as I accept the fact that my cats would trade me off in a minute if they could find a human who would feed them more than twice a day.

In the early versions, Jay learned at the end of the commercial that Duke could talk. He would say that "Duke is the only one who knows my secret recipe and he's not talking". Cue Duke saying something, and then Jay said, "Uh oh!". I don't know when they changed it but I still remember the old ones.

I have to throw the Sargento cheese guy under this bus. His voice! It is the most phlegm-filled voice I've ever heard and it grosses me out no end.
I guess eating all that cheese leaves a such thick coating on your throat that a good, cleansing hocker may be necessary every now and again.

(forgive the ewww-factor of this reply)

I have to throw the Sargento cheese guy under this bus. His voice! It is the most phlegm-filled voice I've ever heard and it grosses me out no end.
I guess eating all that cheese leaves a such thick coating on your throat that a good, cleansing hocker may be necessary every now and again.

Or maybe it just makes you sound like you're from Wisconsin.

I can't remember what he's hawking, but the guys name is Rodger something, and he's in a helicopter in the beginning of the ad. They also used to show him as a kid. The thing that stuck with me is the way the guys name is spelled. I never saw that spelling before.

Duke the talking dog is also now the one who says "Roll that beautiful bean footage."

Wow, two pages into the thread and no one mentioned the legendary Sy Sperling, of the Hair Club for Men: "I'm not just the president, I'm also a client!"

But wait, there's more! Who can forget the inimitable Popeils, father and son, who sliced and diced their way into our hearts with Ronco favorites like the Pocket Fisherman and the Veg-O-Matic? Now how much would you pay?

edited because now I'm in full nostalgia mode: It wasn't the CEO, but the CEO's daughter - remember the Castro convertible ad, where the little girl was used to show how easy it was to pull out the convertible sofa?

More contemporary is Columbia sports gear, where the husband-and-wife CEO team put their products to the test with Mrs. CEO driving Mr. CEO to the middle of the desert or the tundra, then dumping him out of the Jeep so he can test whether the parka or whatever really is weatherproof. I love how she drives off with a little wave.

Oy, and Martha! Where to even begin? At least now she has a sense of humor about herself, or is at least smart enough to know that laughing at herself is a good marketing tactic.

I think the Columbia deal is a mother-and-son, unless Mama Boyle likes her husbands young.

Yeah, it's mother and son.

It's Rodger Riney of Scottrade. I really need to mention him in the people who should just go away thread. I keep hoping the helicopter he's pretending to fly crashes.



And little Bernadette grew up to become the CEO and do the company's commercials - who would have thunk it?



It's been a long time. What ever happened to good old Sy?

Thanks, Haveahabit! I'm glad I'm not the only one who hopes he crashes that thing. heehee

I can't remember what he's hawking, but the guys name is Rodger something, and he's in a helicopter in the beginning of the ad. They also used to show him as a kid. The thing that stuck with me is the way the guys name is spelled. I never saw that spelling before.

I was gonna enlighten y'all with his name, but someone else just did...Speaking of stockbrokers, Charles Schwab used to do his own ads before the creepy cartoon yuppies came along. Also, Peter Lynch of Fidelity did his own ads for a while...I remember one he was in with Don Rickles.

How weird is this? I just thought of Gert Boyle running over, drowning, and otherwise abusing her son Tim today.

Sometimes, when I pass gas, I will alert those around me by saying, "Roll that beautiful bean footage!"