David Spade Justifies His Creepy Chris Farley DirecTV Ad
It was never in question whether David Spade or Chris Farley's family approved of this disturbing, Tommy Boy-based DirecTV ad, but just to put a fine point on things, Spade has come out to defend his choice in making the ill-advised tribute to his departed pal.
Speaking to Asylum, Spade says:
"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, " he says.
The article also quotes a DirecTV spokesman who said Farley's family signed off on the commercial. There's no better way to pay tribute to a departed loved one like exploiting his image and bastardizing one of his great moments to turn a cheap buck, right?
Chris Farley Direct TV Ad: Too Soon? David Spade Responds [Asylum]
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Oh come on, its not like Tommy Boy is Citizen Kane or The Godfather - its a funny, dumb comedy that was made to make "a cheap buck".
Saw this commercial for the first time while at a Halloween party last weekend. The fact that everyone at the party was singing "fat guy in a little coat" for the rest of the night should show it achieved its goal: a reminder of how funny Chris Farley was.
A little freaky that DirecTV "brought him back", but "exploiting" and "bastardizing"? Not so sure.
If he was being truly sincere when he said that, I can understand.
This ad was disturbing to me, and I'm glad to see that some digging has been done to get David Spade's feelings on it.
I just hope he wasn't saying that to improve his image and that his real reason was the $$$. I'll take his word for now.
And that should be the end of it. His family signed off on it, David Spade signed off on it, anyone that has an issue with it can go kick rocks.
@chrisexv6: I agree, I didn't find the ad disturbing at all. I don't understand why we can't still laugh at him now that he's dead? I'm sure that's not what he would have wanted.
I actually have never, ever found Chris Farley that funny. On rare occasions, yes, but for the most part, no. That said, I thought Tommy Boy was a hilarious movie and the commercial did indeed remind me of just how funny Chris Farley was in that movie. If that's what David Spade meant to do by doing the commercial, it achieved its purpose.
I'm a big fan of the direct tv ads and had no problem with this one. When I first saw it, I thought it was more of a "paying respects" ad than being offensive.
@bornonbord: If something as insignificant as a commercial bothers you, then you must spend a significant portion of your life feeling disturbed.
Okay... I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one disturbed here.
Had it been a clip from the movie, no problem. It was the fact that Spade inserted himself into the scene, present day, that immediately jarred you from "Hey, it's the 'fat guy in a little coat' scene!" to "Wow, I can't believe they really did this, how tacky."
Seriously-- the commercial started, I started singing the song, laughing... then stopped.
We have the right to do many things. Including being tacky, tasteless, and embarassing.
I met Chris Farley's brother Tom Jr. at a Madison WI book signing ("The Chris Farley Show", a great read) at a Barnes and Noble. I find it odd that Tom Jr. would sign off on something like this, especially now that he is interested in running for office as Lieutenant Governor in Wisconsin and would probably prefer to avoid anything that could be considered damaging to his running.
SNL refuses to broadcast or sell the episode in which a "recovered" Chris Farley hosts. I think that alone shows common decency and respect, something this DirecTV commercial lacks.
@chrisexv6: Personally, this is a story because someone at Consumerist finds it tasteless and not necessarily because the world finds it tasteless.
I mean, go after Brooke Shields and Latisse if you really want to see a bunch of celebrities whoring out for a buck.
@Daveinva: That's the gimmick. All of the DirecTV ads are like this. They're a take off a scene from the movie in which an actor replaces his character from the movie and talks about DirecTV.
Have you not seen the other ones? [advertising.about.com]
I don't think this is tasteless at all. The man was a hilarious actor and Tommy Boy was a great comedy movie. He died 12 years ago and they are showing clips of a movie that is nearly 15 years old. His family owns the rights to his work and they have the right to license his work however they please.
Someone compared this to showing a commercial with Heath Ledger as the Joker, who died about two years ago. I can understand that being "too soon", but 12 years? Come on.
John Belushi died in 1982. Yet, his likeness (from a scene in Animal House) is still used at sporting events to pump up the crowd. Is that tasteless?
@redskull: Commercials are great! That's a good portion of how I make my living.
Exploiting a dead friend? That's a little disturbing.
@gerrylum: Exactly. What, do we have to digitally edit him out and replace him with walkie talkies now?
Can we no longer watch movies with NYC as the backdrop prior to 2001 b/c the towers are in the film? Do we need to go back and edit out the skyline?
What about that Pepsi commercial showing the similarities of the generations? is that not acceptable? Or is that one allowed because all of the deceased in that spot are more than 22.3 years gone?
There is no reason for the sensitivity level of this issue to be what it is. He was a funny actor. Lets remember him that way.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): And as we all know, during his lifetime Chris Farley was an exemplar of taste and a careful steward of his public image.
King Kong is dead. Where is the outrage about that?
I'm sorry but people need to get off the PC no one is a looser, I cant believe they did that, lest not hurt peoples feelings, anyone can be anything, bandwagon.
The Rams/Titans suck and are losers
This commercial is funny
if you don't like my opinion, don't listen or change the channel
No you can't be anything you want to, you can do everything right and still not make it.
It's a tough reality we live in, but it's the real world.
There's no better way to pay tribute to a departed loved one like exploiting his image and bastardizing one of his great moments to turn a cheap buck, right?
Oh calm down! Where's the article about Michael Jackson's family releasing "This Is It" in theaters? Where's the outrage over Billy Mays' posthumous infomercial appearances? How about the calls to action over his family daring to rake in revenues from DVD sales after Farley's death?
There's nothing wrong with the examples I just mentioend, just like there's nothing wrong with this commercial. Just because somebody's dead doesn't mean they become instantly sacred and any profit is tarnished!
So I suppose Spade going to Comedy Central and saying, "Chris Farley was probably the best friend I ever had, and I'd like to volunteer my time for free to get other like-minded comedians to show up, and we'll host a retrospective of Chris' work on your fine network" didn't pan out?
Yeah, my heart broke a little when I read in the Trades how Spade's selfless offer to honor his dear friend was shot down in flames. He really pulled out all the stops for that tribute.
Hey, David: next time, if you staple Farley's disintegrating corpse to your back, I'll bet the rate for personal appearances will also get a boost. Try that next?
@bornonbord: his family approved of it. Unless you are part of Chris Farley's family you really shouldn't give a rat's ass.
Personally I found the one using Heather O'Rourke much creepier. Partly because it was Poltergeist, but also just the fact that she was 12 when she died. But that was also 20 years ago. Dead celebrities are used to sell product all the time. Einstein's estate made a fortune of Baby Einstein, no one has a problem with Elvis or James Dean merchandising.
"There's no better way to pay tribute to a departed loved one like exploiting his image and bastardizing one of his great moments to turn a cheap buck, right?"
Personally, I think your assumptions about Chris Farley's family are more offensive than the ad.
@full.tang.halo: +1 Thank you. People need to spend more time worrying about themselves and their own issues instead of something they "may" find offensive or of bad taste. I miss the 50's :-(
When people are in the business of selling their image, then their image becomes an asset, a thing of value -- value that persists as long as there is a market for it.
I've never understood the outraged response to the re-use of these assets by the people who now own them.
Let's save our outrage for things that actually hurt people.
People take things to seriously! My god he has been dead since 1997, that's 12 years already.
When I first saw the commercial, I was a bit uneasy. I loved Chris Farley, and 'Tommy Boy' is one of the funniest movies ever. "How tasteless," I thought.
But the more I saw it, the more I was OK with it. I love watching 'Tommy Boy', I know Farley is dead, but it doesn't affect me when I'm watching the film. He was/is a great comedian.
But I think I've hit on what about the commercial bothered me the most: Spade gets his say in it, "buy DirecTV." But Farley doesn't get his. I've often wondered why companies that include dead celebs in their commercials don't use the opportunity to partner with the families and devote the last 2 seconds of the commercial to showing a website or mentioning a charity that the celeb championed. In this case, they could have done their DirecTV pitch and then said, "Be sure to Check Out the Chris Farley Foundation…'Don't be That Guy'! www.ThatGuy.com"
At least that would have made me FEEL good that Farley's legacy was being taken into account, and HIS star power from the clip was also working. Right now it requires some google-fu from the viewer and NOTHING from DirecTV.
@dpeters11: I thought about Heather O'Rourke too, but I really don't think most people even realized that she died very soon after the films.
@pecan 3.14159265:
Agreed. The only thing I ever found Chris funny in was Tommy Boy. I hated all his other movies, and wasn't a fan of his during his SNL days, either.
@Burning pakalolo not even noticing the weather: This is true. But because it's in my living room, I do care. And like I said, I do hope he was being sincere...
Remember when Natalie Cole tap danced all over her fathers grave with those duets?
Overreaction. It's not quite the same as using Kurt Cobain's avatar in Guitar Hero 5 to mimmic Flava Flav's gesticulations.
If I was a celeb that OD'd and my ghost could see my family and my friend were paying homage to me while my image could get them paid, I'd be all for it.
@Burning pakalolo not even noticing the weather:
The good old days weren't so good for all of us. Remember that.
@Darascon: Yes, he was funny, and I agree with all of the above regarding sensitivity-concern-trolling. But I do find it a bit tastelessly ironic the way Spade smirks over the "never gets old" line that concludes the spot.
@SabreDC: There was an article in the WSJ the other day about how Bruce Lee's daughter was setting up a new business venture to promote her late father's name in China, and to promote his work across the US to boost his fan base. She's inked marketing deals to use his likeness, made his childhood home into a museum, and no one is saying she's exploiting his image because she's his daughter - how does that make the Farley family any different. They're family.
This commercial is genious. It is funny as hell. I loved it the first time I saw it. Now, it's controversial. Oooh, direct tv resurrected some fat, stupid comedian who overdosed... poor him. Nah, he's dead, and it was his fault, who cares. The commercial is great. Give it up.
@lmarconi: I totally agree... Phil has decided that he hates the commercial and has now taken advantage of the consumerist to editorialize.
But you know what, they are using the Tommy Boy DVD cover on this post... which has Chris Farley on it... so in the end, he's just as evil as the people he thinks are tasteless since they used Chris Farley to bring readers to their site!
@lmarconi: Between Brooke's eyelashes and her teeth, the girl's letting everyone in on her toiletry rituals. I changed the channel from a Brooke Latisse ad the other night only to land on a Brooke Crest toothpaste ad. Someone give the woman a real job so she stops shilling in commercials.
@pecan 3.14159265: No ads.
It's one thing to want to ensure your father's great work isn't forgotten, it's another to do quite literally nothing else besides what they dragged Farley out of his grave to do here.
I cringed when I saw this ad, too. I think what I find distasteful about it is that the re-dubbed script includes insults. The original jabs are fine in the context of the film, but seem weird when you consider the fact that writers in 2009 had to draft brand-new fat jokes about a dead guy.
@mimbypims: I thought the same thing. I was smiling watching "Fat guy in a little coat," realized it was a Direct TV thing when David Spade addressed the camera, and then cringed when he called Chris Farley "tons of fun."
Tasteless? Maybe....But if all parties consented to use his likeness, why should anyone else care? I don't get the big deal on this one...