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Abraham Lincoln: Celebrity pitchman
Honestly, could there be a better pitchman than Abe Lincoln? The upcoming release of the film "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is just the latest idea to cash in on the 16th president.
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Kai Ryssdal: Abraham Lincoln's been dead for 147 years. But modern day marketers know a good thing when they see it. Yes, he's on the $5 bill, but that doesn't count. Not only has Lincoln become a celebrity pitchman of sorts, he'll be the star of not one, but two blockbusters movies this year.
We sent Marketplace's Nancy Marshall-Genzer to figure out what the heck's going on with the 16th president of these United States.
Nancy Marshall-Genzer: So, everybody knows about Lincoln and the Civil War. But Hollywood says he also had a stake in a different war. Against vampires.
"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" clip: I shall kill them all.
The film, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," premieres later this month. The film's stars will soon invade the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier for a free, promotional showing of the movie. So far there are no plans to outfit the Lincoln Memorial with a set of fangs or work in a Lincoln Bedroom promo. But the marketers would, if they could. Because, honestly? Nothing sells like Abe.
Jackie Hogan: Lincoln has become of the most recognizable brands in America today.
Jackie Hogan teaches sociology at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., deep in Lincoln country. She wrote a book on the marketing of our 16th president.
Hogan: Lincoln stands for all American values -- honesty, integrity. And perhaps above all he is an exemplar of the American Dream because he rose from rags to riches.
Riches, like the kind you keep in Lincoln Financial to buy things like Lincoln Continentals. Or, if you're in Asbury Park, N.J., to get rid of roaches just call Honest Abe's Pest Control.
Honest Abe's Pest Control ad: Call us for problems with ants, skunks, squirrels, termites and more. Honest Abe's Pest Control.
But does any of this Lincoln-linked advertising work? I went to the Lincoln Memorial to find out what Abe's biggest fans think.
Evan Thompson: I think it's all a money game.
Evan Thompson is a retiree from North Carolina. He says marketers are trashing Lincoln's legacy.
Thompson: They just happen to know that hey, everybody will recognize the name Abraham Lincoln, so let's use it and abuse it.
But the teens and 20-somethings I talked to said that is so four score and seven years ago. Seventeen-year-old Brittany Blackburn is on a school trip from Michigan. Sounding jaded, she says we need Abe right now. In pest control. On movie screens. Whatever.
Brittany Blackburn: Our country is getting so far away from, like, telling the truth, that maybe we're trying to bring that back into the culture. So, maybe that's why he's coming back into fashion. Because he was, like, the truth teller.
Of course, Blackburn is part of Hollywood's favorite demographic. So if she thinks Lincoln's cool? He'll continue to loom large at your favorite multiplex. Did I mention Steven Spielberg has a Lincoln movie coming out later this year?
In Washington, I'm Nancy Marshall-Genzer for Marketplace.
No mention of "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue" - Bob Newhart's classic comedy bit regarding the marketing of the American President? You can find audio clips online, just goggle the title. Newhart recorded this routine in 1961, over fifty years ago. "Abe, you have to whear hat"
While the mainstream public opinion of Lincoln may well make him good for marketing, that doesn't mean it's accurate. Try reading some Thomas DiLorenzo.
http://amzn.com/0761526463 The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War
http://amzn.com/0307338428 Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe
"Largest mass hanging in United States history"38 Santee "Sioux" Indian men Mankato, Minnesota, Dec. 16, 1862 303 Indian males were set to be hanged"On December 6 (1862) President Lincoln notified Sibley that he should "cause to be executed" thirty-nine of the 303 convicted Santees, Execution date was the 26th of December. At the last minute, one Indian was given a reprieve. About ten o'clock the thirty-eight condemned men were marched from the prison to the scaffold. They sang the Sioux death song until soldiers pulled white caps over their heads and placed nooses around their necks. At a signal from an army officer, the control rope was cut and thirty-eight Santee Sioux dangled lifeless in the air. "Largest mass hanging in United States history"38 Santee "Sioux" Indian men Mankato, Minnesota, Dec. 16, 1862 303 Indian males were set to be hanged The youngest person hanged in America was Hannah Ocuish who was 12 years and nine months old and was described as a half breed Indian girl. She was executed on December 20th 1786 for the murder of a 6 year old girl whom she had beaten to death after an earlier argument. ya! facts are facts, american pride in droping bomb on babies and other such mass murder have its history link to Lincoln bloody hands.
And there's another movie coming out this fall, SAVING LINCOLN, about the 16th President and his closest friend and bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon. This movie is extra cool because it uses visual FX to create sets out of actual Civil War-era photographs. See www.facebook.com/SavingLincoln
