GreenLight

The movie, Avatar, created compelling characters with the use of CG. What does the future hold for computer generated characters? Could this technology start a trend of using deceased Hollywood icons in new movies? GreenLight Vice President David Reeder talks with Fox Business about using CG to revive Hollywood icons.

Greenlight Vice President, David Reeder, chats with Forbes about the increasing use of dead celebrities in commercials and TV.

“Reeder says that (Bruce) Lee’s estate (represented by GreenLight Rights) is interested in some sort of animated or reanimated project for Lee. ‘You could imagine, given the things we saw in Avatar, the action scenes you could create with Bruce Lee,’ says Reeder.”

Other celebrities making recent appearances are Marilyn Monroe in a Mercedes Benz commercial and Steve McQueen in a Tag Heuer advertisement.

Interesting stuff. Read the full article: “A Star is Reborn: How Hollywood Magicians Will Raise The Dead.”

Ask questions to world-renowned Albert Einstein expert Professor Hanoch Gutfreund about Dr. Einstein in honor of his birthday on March 14th!

GreenLight represents the name, image and likeness rights of Albert Einstein for use in advertising and products. Watch recent Dodge Ram advertising campaign.

In Ad Week, T.L. Stanley claims that the trend for using celebrities as pitchmen is actually increasing rather than being hindered by the exploits of Tiger Woods and the rapper, T.I. Our own Greenlight Ad Gauge data was referred to in the article:

“In fact, if anything, the use of celeb endorsers seems to be making a comeback. At high-profile advertising events like the Super Bowl, celebrities and popular music appeared in 40 percent of the commercials, according to GreenLight, a licensing, talent and rights consultancy. Celebrity ads spiked 150 percent during the Grammy Awards this year compared to last, GreenLight found.”

Do you think celebrity pitchmen are making a comeback?

You can find all our past Ad Gauges (Superbowl, Grammy, Oscars) on this blog.

Read: Dancing With the Stars from Ad Week

Greenlight repped Buzz Aldrin is counting down the days to the premiere of Dancing with the Stars. The 80 year old former astronaut, is teamed up with Ashly DelGrosso-Costa. Word has it that their first dance on the March 22nd premiere will be the cha-cha and the next dance, the fox trot! Let’s hope Buzz will be able to escape gravity once again.

Leave a good luck message for Buzz in our Comments.

Buzz Aldrin page on Greenlight Rights web site

Surprisingly, this year’s Oscar ad gauge reveals a deep decline in celebrity endorsements. However, pop music was strong and was featured in a third of all ads.

Key findings from our analysis:

The number of Oscar ads featuring celebrity endorsements plummeted for the third year in a row to just 4%, down from 19% last year and 38% in 2008
While brands are tuning out celebs, they continue to tune in popular music with 30% of ads featuring recorded pop songs, about the same as the past two years
Just 34% of Oscar ads featured celebs and/or pop music, down from 47% in 2009 and 68% in 2008
4% of 2010 ads featured brand jingles, up from 2% for the previous two years.

“The 82nd annual Academy Awards show may have been supersized with two hosts, 10 best picture nominations and two extended tributes to film icons, but advertisers downsized the use of celebs this year,” said David Reeder, Vice President, GreenLight. “Unlike the Grammys and Super Bowl where we saw a post recession bounce in the use of celebrity, Oscar advertisers are possibly facing tighter budgets, being cautious following the Tiger Woods debacle or falling back on other approaches.”

In 2009, the Oscars were watched by 36.3 million viewers. Estimates for the 2010 Oscars project more than 40 million. During this year’s Oscars, 30-second advertising spots were reportedly sold for $1.5 million, up a half of a million from 2009.

Read the full report

Read the full press release

The Cash family, Rick Rubin, American Recordings, and Lost Highway Records are requesting that all Johnny Cash fans wear black Friday in honor of Cash’s 78th birthday.

GreenLight Rights has been honored to work with the Cash family in the licensing arena.

Learn more about licensing

Read more about Wear Black for Cash

Check out the Man in Black lyrics

“…just measure it in inches.”

That is just one of Andy Warhol’s many famous quotes. And while Warhol said that “In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes” in his case, it’s been a lot longer. More than two decades after his untimely death at the age of 58, Warhol continues to dominate pop culture with his artwork, illustration, photography, films, books — and avant-garde personal appeal.

Warhol is today considered the bellwether of the art market, and his brand, likeness and artwork is so well recognized that it is increasingly being used by advertisers and marketers to build awareness of their own brands. The Andy Warhol Foundation works with GreenLight to license Warhol’s image and likeness for commercial advertising use around the world. GreenLight represents many of the world’s most iconic personalities including Albert Einstein, Steve McQueen, The Wright Brothers, Bruce Lee, Johnny Cash and Thomas Edison. GreenLight helps brands partner with icons in their advertising and marketing campaigns.

GreenLight is today opening a new “15 Minutes of Fame” contest where a lucky winner will receive a one-of-a-kind experience and runners up will receive collectibles inspired by the life and work of Warhol – and have the chance to bathe in their own 15 minutes of fame.

To enter the “15 Minutes of Fame Contest”, participants just need to submit their own avant-garde, in vogue, mundane or de rigueur quote and share it on the interactive contest web page, where they can also see quotes from other entrants. Winners will be randomly selected from all entries received.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a trip for two to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to visit the Warhol Museum. Select runners-up will receive a Burton Andy Warhol Money Snowboard and copies of the book, GIANT SIZE, a massive, spectacular, visual biography of the life and career of Andy Warhol.

Enter to win today!

Today, we released the results of our GreenLight Ad Gauge for Super Bowl XLIV, revealing that more than 40% of TV commercials aired during the big game featured celebrities or pop music, a similar amount to the past two years. The full report can be downloaded here. The full press release here.

The GreenLight Ad Gauge analyzes TV advertising during the Super Bowl – the world’s biggest television event every year – as a barometer to identify trends in how brands are using celebrities and pop music in their TV commercials.

Key findings from GreenLight’s 2010 Super Bowl analysis include:

34% of Super Bowl ads had celebrity endorsements from the worlds of sports, film, television or music – many featuring older icons like Betty White, Abe Vigoda, Jim McMahon, Mike Ditka, Stevie Wonder and Chevy Chase

20% of Super Bowl ads featured pop music, with both contemporary artists like Beyoncé and will.i.am to retro icons like Bill Withers and Kiss in the spotlight.

41% of 2010 Super Bowl ads included either celebrity endorsements and/or pop music Just one brand – Intel – used a branded jingle, sung by a chorus of employees

“Retro is the new contemporary as advertisers tapped into pop culture ranging from Kiss to Abe Vigoda in their quest to make an entertaining and emotional connection with consumers,” said David Reeder, Vice President, GreenLight. “This is a smart move by brands because they can leverage the familiarity

GreenLight (www.greenlightrights.com), a global media licensing, talent negotiation and rights representation consultancy, today released the results of its annual GreenLight Ad Gauge of the 52nd annual Grammy® Awards, revealing a 150% spike in ads featuring celebrity endorsements. The full report is available here. And the full press release is available here.

Additional coverage on the Grammy Ad Gauge:

Forbes.com The Biz Blog: The Grammys’ Other Winners
Reuters: Star power: Celebrity Endorsements Surge at Grammys