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Steve McQueen, Dead Since 1980, to Star in New TV
Commercial
 Oct.
15, 2004 Despite the fact that Steve McQueen would be 74 years old
if he had not died from lung cancer 24 years ago the actor so many
seniors once loved is returning to the television screen next month in a
new commercial introducing the Ford Mustang, another passion of older
Americans, for 2005.
The Ford Motor Co. commercial a takeoff on the
1989 movie Field of
Dreams shows a farmer building a racetrack in a field of corn. Then,
the McQueen body image, enhanced by some digital wizardry, comes walking
out of the corn stalks. The image portrays McQueen in his famous role as
the Mustang-driving detective in the movie
Bullitt.
He takes the keys from the farmer and then drives off in the new
Mustang.
McQueen, who played the title character in the 1968
film "Bullitt," is "an icon," and the car is an icon, according to a
quote in the New York Times from Tom Cordner, co-president of J. Walter
Thompson USA in Detroit, which developed most of the new Ford division
campaign, and "the car's an icon," he added, referring to the Mustang.
Marketing experts say the Ford ad is pushing the
right buttons because the McQueen legend and the Mustang evoke fond
memories for movie-goers and car buffs alike, according to the Detroit
News.
McQueen was born March 24, 1930, in Beech Grove,
Indiana. He died November 7, 1980 from a rare form of lung cancer. It is
somewhat ironic that it was television where he first found fame in
"Wanted: Dead or Alive." It was from this show that he was discovered by
Hollywood and began his distinguished movie career. More about Steve at
The First Steve McQueen Site.
More of the story
Detroit News
New York Times
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
