HOW HE SEES IT Dead men tell no tales but sell products well

By TRUMAN TAYLOR
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
A hundred years ago, in 1905, Albert Einstein was telling the world about his theory of relativity. The centennial of that display of intellectual power is being commemorated by the scientific community in various ways.
He's been dead for 50 years, but Albert Einstein has become a hot figure in the advertising world. He's appearing in ads for Apple computers, Fuji film and Chrysler cars, to name just three. His estate will get about $1 million for the ads this year. That may be a lot less than the $40 million Elvis Presley will get, but it's still impressive for a wild-haired old guy in wrinkled khaki pants and a sweatshirt.
Nothing's sacred
A lot of people are surprised that the folks who manage Einstein's estate let his image be used this way. But nothing is sacred anymore, especially in the ad world. In Europe, Visa is even airing an ad using Gandhi. It targets college kids -- Gandhi is shown teaching philosophy. Advertisers like the predictability of dead people.
It's worth money to advertisers not to have to worry about a celebrity spokesperson -- such as Michael Jackson, for instance -- getting into trouble and blemishing their product. That's why Marilyn Monroe earned $7 million from advertisers last year.
You may say that using dead people doesn't sound like a very smart advertising scheme. However, Coors Beer, for example, says its sales went way up when John Wayne became its pitchman -- 17 years after his death. The Duke got a nice piece of change for this, though still far from what Elvis makes. Of course, the difference may be that the King isn't dead, having most recently been seen at a bar in Santa Fe.
X Truman Taylor is a television talk-show host. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.