So Tommy Boy was a pretty good movie. It was funny at the time. I like David Spade; I liked Chris Farley. But DirecTV doing these commercials with a dead actor (Farley) spliced with a still alive…former…actor (?) seems a little tasteless. Yes DirecTV has done it with their most recent entry into the advertising annals. The “Fat guy in a little coat,” bit from the film was when Farley took up Spades jacket and sang the line “fat guy in a little coat.” Then Farley did his signature muscle/fat flex and splits the back of the tiny coat he’s wearing. There is a lot of feeling floating around about this ad; people are mad, sad, and feel as though there has been an injustice with this spot.
The only place I see David Spade these days is on TMZ when he’s hopping into and out of Cheesecake Factory; gotta dig that career out of the ravine somehow; how else are you going to pay for all those Cheesecake Factory meals? But David Spade and DirecTV have crossed a line of tastelessness. Yeah, some may call this ad an “homage” to the timelessness of the whole Chris Farley bit, but his whole, “crazy, I can scream louder than you, take my clothes off faster than you,” thing definitely lost its “oomph” when Farley exited stage left. At least on Saturday Night Live; Mad TV sort of took up that style of comedy in Farley’s wake.
This DirecTV commercial, though, hasn’t been received well in the online presses. While the status of a television commercial may not make it into the pages of Time Magazine or whatever, the screens have lit up in the online world and people range from fond-remembrances to outright disgust.
Brand development & creative director guy Cloonan said on his blog that this move from DirecTV was “shameful,” adding, “come on DIRECTV are you kidding me? Is your creative team that lame that they have to resort to this…do you have so little respect for Farley…his family…and his fans to commercialize this memory.
Still others showed as much disdain for Spade as anything. Kim LaCapria on inquisitor.com echoed my thought that Spade, “doesn’t seem to be doing much these days. But he still has time to trot out the memory of Farley in a really sad and creepy way in a DirecTV commercial.” LaCapria also added that when seeing this commercial she “was really, really surprised that it was allowed to happen. It even seemed crass to hear Spade refer to Farley as “tons of fun,” insulting a dead man out of the context of the film from over a decade ago.”
So what is the verdict? Will this commercial be cast into the throes of bad commercial history? Doubtful. DirecTV probably had to pay Spade enough to even pull himself out from the Cheesecake Factory. Plus, the team at DirecTV R&D; felt that this ad passed the sniff test from the start so I doubt that DirecTV will want to keep paying royalties to a dead guy if they can’t use his material.
