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Thursday, 15 December 2011 12:30

No RIP for VIPs: Dead Stars Rise to Make Sales Pitches

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  • 12:30 pm  | 
  • Wired December 2011

Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, and Marlene Dietrich starred in a Dior ad this fall, air-kissing Charlize Theron and cooing over J’Adore perfume. It’s not the first time VIPs have been Pet Sematary‘d to sell stuff, but some resurrections are more off-putting than others. Here’s how a few celebri-zombie shills stack up.


  • Fred Astaire (1997)
    Astaire dances with a Dirt Devil in a scene CGI’d from the 1951 film Royal Wedding. Verdict: Carpet cleaning as spiritual transportation is implausible, but who cares—it’s still a great number to watch.
  • Orville Redenbacher (2007)
    The bow-tied icon makes a perplexing connection between microwave popcorn and an MP3 player. Verdict: Poor guy looks like a ghost in a rubber mask. Even the other actors look scared.
  • Gene Kelly (2010)
    In a commercial for VW, Kelly and Donald O’Connor do their Sitting Dance in the oh-so-roomy backseat of a Jetta. Verdict: Cute, snappy, and no ghoulish forced interactions with living persons.
  • Lady Di (2011)
    The princess gets digitally aged and used to illustrate Newsweek’s “Diana at 50? story.
    Verdict: If there is an uncanny valley of dubious taste, this stunt slides all the way to the bottom.

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