DirecTV has Still Got It!

DirecTV does a lot of things very well and to me one of the best things that DirecTV does is its marketing. It seems as though no matter what the ad is, when ever DirecTV airs a new ad it always seems be talked about around water coolers around the country.

DirecTV has done it again.

The latest DirecTV ad once again has people talking. In fact on my ride into work today I was listening to the “Monsters in the Morning” show from Orlando, Florida which airs nationwide on XM channel 152. For almost 45 minutes the topic was DirecTV’s latest ad, which features David Spade and the late great Chris Farley.

The ad while not groundbreaking is being considered controversial because of the use of the late Chris Farley in the ad. In the discussion of the commercial listeners who called into the radio show were not mad at DirecTV for the ad but instead were upset at actor David Spade for selling out his friend Chris Farley to make a quick buck from DirecTV.

The ad takes David Spade and mixes him in with video of Chris Farley from the movie “Tommy Boy” while Spade hawks DirecTV’s service.

A number of people had issue saying that Spade was cashing in on the memory of his late friend. As I drove in I couldn’t believe how upset some folks were about this matter. Some were upset that DirecTV used a dead celebrity to make an ad. This was not the first time DirecTV has used a deceased celebrity to advertise their service, last year DirecTV had a “Poltergeist” ad which features child star Heather O’Rourke. The child actor died in 1988. This ad sparked a little controversy, which was quickly calmed down when the parent of O’Rourke said that they gave DirecTV the ok to run that ad.

But now its not DirecTV taking the heat, it seems all the heat is being pinned on David Spade. David Spade issued a statement on the matter to Asylum.COM stating, “When DIRECT TV came to me and the Farley family with this idea about ‘Tommy Boy,’ we talked and thought it would be a cool way to remind people just how funny Chris was. It is a clever homage to my friend and a movie that we loved doing,”

In addition it is reported that the Farley family worked with DirecTV on the ad and was fine with its content.

I got to be honest, when I saw the ad I was not offended, instead it made me want to see “Tommy Boy” again. I don’t think David Spade did anything wrong by agreeing to appear in this ad.

In the 45 minutes this was discussed on the radio I wish I counted how many times the word “DirecTV” was said. And I can only imagine that this ad was discussed on other shows and in offices around the country. DirecTV sure got its moneies worth out of this campaign and its only run for a few days. Most companies could only dream about the word of mouth campains like this, DirecTV seems to have a way of making its ads water cooler talk over and over again. That DirecTV marketing team still has got it, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what future ads hold for us from DirecTV.